Sticks and Stones
by leshiny
Summary: [NEJI x OC] Tsukiko, believed to be the last surviving member of the Kaguya Clan, has no memory of how she came to be lost & alone in an abandoned temple before she was found by Hiashi Huuga. Tsuki now has to adapt to life in Konoha where she is viewed as an outsider. But when it comes to Neji, Tsuki is unsure how exactly he views her. Does he really hate her as much as she thinks?
1. Preface

**PREFACE**

It was dark, though the sun had not long set. Hiashi Hyuuga and two other members of the Hyuuga main family were on a recognisance mission near Otagakure, they had been sent by the Third Hokage to investigate the many unexplained disappearances from surrounding villages. They had been in the area for almost a week without discovering anything significant and planned to return to the village the next next morning to report their findings.

In an abandoned village on the outskirts of Otagakure the three Hyuuga planned to make camp for the night. And it was there, in the ruined temple on the hill, that they found her.

In the shadows of the far left corner of the temple a mass of fiery orange hair was visible under a thin fawn blanket. As Hiashi drew closer his footsteps echoed of the cold stone walls and startled the sleeping child. She arose in a flash and bore her fangs against him but as he continued towards her she backed up into the corner more, like a cornered animal. Coming close to her he crouched to be at her a eye level and gain a better look at her. She was small and thin, her hair was overgrown and wild and she stared at him with wide, piercing hazel eyes,

"What is you name, young child," He asked softly, "I am Hiashi Hyuuga"

She did not answer, only stared at him,

"Where is everyone?"

"Gone," She answered after a long pause, her voice barely a whisper, carried in the silence, "They are all gone now,"

"' _Gone'_ " He echoed back, "Where have they gone? How long have you been here?"

"I don't know,"

"Where are your parents?" He pressed, "Who is looking after you?"

"They are gone too,"

"Are you here alone?"

She nodded.

Hiashi draw up again and looked around the temple. It didn't look like she had been there very long and it didn't look like anyone else had been there before her for a very long time either. He silently wondered where she had come from. The two red markings above her eyebrows seemed familiar to him, though he couldn't recall which Clan they belonged to. she was thin and frail and Hiashi knew that a child like her wouldn't last much longer in a place, she would die from starvation or exposure before long. His companions also came to the same conclusion, and drawing up slowly behind him they both cautioned him that they couldn't just leave her there. Looking at the girls small face Hiashi was reminded of his eldest daughter, Hinata. They would both be around the same age he presumed and both appeared before him with a sense of weakness and frailty. He pitied the girl, just as he pitied his own daughter, and knew his companions were right, they couldn't just abandon her,

"Would you like to come with us back to our village, Konohagakure?" He asked her gently, "To a place where you don't have to be alone anymore,"

"Ko-no-ha-ga-ku-re?" She repeated back to him slowly,

"That is right,"

"A place I don't have to be alone" She murmured to herself in disbelief,

"If you would like to?" He posed again and she looked up a him wide eyed.

She nodded firmly after a small hesitation. Hiashi told her that they planned to leave in the morning and asked if they could set up camp in her temple. She agreed and the Hyuuga set about lighting a fire and drawing out blankets and food. Hiashi gave her a warmer blanket that the thin one she had as well as some of their food and she took them cautiously and returned to her corner. After her hunger was sated and she was warmer under the blanket she felt safer in their company and moved closer to them and the fire,

"What is you name?" Hiashi asked again having not received an answer the first time,

"My name?" She thought for a while, as if recalling a memory she had long forgotten, "My name is Tsukiko Kaguya."

* * *

The journey back to the village usually took two days, however in Tsukiko's weakened state it took her and Hiashi almost four as she couldn't keep up. He sent his companions on ahead to inform the Hokage of his delay and to report on what had happened during their mission. Tsukiko and Hiashi arrived in Konoha in the early morning of the fourth day with Tsukiko carried asleep on his back. The sounds of the village as they grew closer to the main gate and awoke her and he let her down so she could walk in on her own. Passing through the village to the Hokage building she stuck close to his side marvelling at the sight of the village and the large faces carved into the cliff face, but still cautious of her surroundings.

Knocking on the door of the Third Hokage's office Hiashi opened the door without waiting for an answer as he knew the Hokage would be expecting him,

"Lord Hokage," He greeted with a small bow upon entering the room

"Good morning, Hiashi" Hiruzen returned moving around from behind his desk, "And good morning to you too, you must be Tsukiko? I am Hiruzen Sarutobi, the leader of this village. "

She took an instinctive step back as he approached but bowed slowly and cautiously to him, "It's a pleasure to meet you,"

Both Hiruzen and Hiashi were taken aback, despite the fact that she seemed frightened she still gave a polite greeting and showed no hostility. The two other Hyuuga Clan members who went with Hiashi on the mission to Otagakure had informed Hiruzen of the young girl a few days ago when they arrived back in the village without Hiashi. They had told him she was a cautious, but seemingly intelligent, child of the now extinct Kaguya Clan. Hiruzen didn't know what to make of the discovery of such a child near Otagakure, especially with such strange and concerning rumours surrounding that village. But while questions formed in his mind about her origins and he knew there were more pressing matters he had to attend to and so called in an assistant to escort Tsukiko Kaguya from his office and get her some food while he talked in private with Hiashi.

When they were alone Hiashi gave his report of what they discovered during their mission. While he listened Hiruzen gazed out the window at the village below and made to interruptions to ask any questions. When Hiashi was finished Hiruzen remained silent thinking over what he had just been told. Despite all the rumours about Otagakure his reconnaissance team had found nothing suspicious or worthy of note - and Hiruzen wondered if that in itself was the note worthy part. Did that mean all the rumours were simply just rumours, or was there something larger at play. Turning back to Hiashi Hiuzen thanked him for his work and changed the subject back to the young child who was brought into the village,

"What will happen to the girl now?" Hiashi asked,

"She will be placed under the protection of one of Konoha's most respected families," Hiruzen informed him lowering his head but keeping his gaze fixed on Hiashi,

"Surely you don't mean..."

"Tsukiko is in an unfamiliar place, most likely scared and cautious" Hiruzen continued, "It will be good for her to stay with a familiar, trusted face,"

"Lord Hokage," Hiashi insisted, "Since the founding of this village the Hyuuga main family has never taken in an outsider like this-"

"Hiashi," Hiruzen cut him off, "She is of the Kaguya Clan, we do not know anything about her abilities or the danger she may pose. We need to keep a close eye on her in order to know whether we made the right decision allowing her to stay,"

"She is only a child, but what if she proves to be a danger to the village?"

"Then we cannot let her stay... But we also can't let her leave either."

* * *

 **NEXT TIME-**  
CHAPTER 1: _"He really does hate me, doesn't he?"_

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

"What? You again, writing ANOTHER fic?" You may be thinking. And yes, yes I am. Despite the fact that I am notorious for not completing things I start this time is different. I have a point to prove with this story!

A friend of mine, actually more of a rival that a friend, ridiculed me one day by saying that I am unable to write a love story. Which is hella rude for one thing, but is also completely inaccurate. But simply saying "I totally bet I can write a love story!" just wouldn't cut, I had to back it up with proof. And so thus we have this story! And I will not loose to my rival, this will be the greatest love story I have ever written and it will rival even the greatest Shakespearian play! (though it also might be one of the only ones I have really ever written, but shh, that is irrelevant!)

Ah, but I cannot tell you the trouble I had just getting to this point, my children. I didn't have access to internet as I began writing this and I decided to just get as much progress done before posting the fist part so I would be able to continue posting more frequently even if I didn't have time to write as I would be well ahead of where I was posting. And it was going pretty well. Including this preface I had 6 chapters ready for posting. But... then the worst happened. I lost everything. All my work, all my planning - everything due to stupid technology! So I had to start all over from scratch - after I stopped crying this is. And I did. I restarted the whole thing and have even improved it since my first copy. And if that doesn't slow my dedication to this project then I don't know what would.

I will also tell you now, at the start of this journey, that I wanted to still focus on the plot and action of the story as well as making it a love story. So because of this, it is a bit of a slow burning story. If you are the sort of person who wants to read a story about romance - where the characters are together by the second chapter and are frick-fracking by the fifth, then this story probably isn't for you. But, if you want to read about falling in love, rather than just the romance side of love- then maybe you will like this more. I didn't want to sacrifice the MC's character development or the action and plot of the story just to force the romance and I wanted to stick as close to Kishimotos work as possible and do it justice - and as you know Naruto was never meant to be a Shoujo story with romance as the main plot device. Though, do not let me deter you, this is fundamentally a love story, it just focuses more on the development of that love rather than the outcome of it. I hope that makes sense? I guess you will just have to stick with me and this story and see what happens.

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you choose to stick with it and follow its progress.


	2. CHAPTER 1: Introductory Arc, Part 1

**CHAPTER 1:  
** "He really does hate me, doesn't he?"

* * *

Tsukiko's first few months at the compound had been difficult. Many from the main and branch families despised her being there and openly ignored her presence and as a result that made her cautious and quiet. But it was Hinata that had made things better for her. When they first met they were both shy and equally fearful of the other, but as time passed the two grew close and Tsukiko viewed Hinata, and Hinabi too, as her little sisters - despite not knowing if she was actually older than Hinata. Eventually Tsukiko was able to entirely loose her fear and caution thanks to Hinata. The two complimented each others personalities and made a great pair; where Hinata was quiet and timid, Tsukiko was outgoing and bold. When Hinata was bullied and picked on for her kindness Tsukiko came to defend her and cheer her up, and when Tsukiko was ignored and treated as an outsider Hinata came to her aid and included her. They both saved each other from the loneliness they felt.

When she first came to live at the Hyuuga main family compound she had been told that following their family traditions she was going to be entered at the Academy and trained to become a ninja. She was at first placed in the year bellow Hinata, despite them being the same age, but very quickly proved her strength and intelligence and rose to the top of her class. It didn't take long before she out matched everyone in her class and began finding the training not challenging enough. She was moved up two classes to the year ahead of Hinata and rose to second in that class and found herself an opponent who could challenge her own skill. Coming to the village had allowed Tsukiko to flourish and the fears the Third had voiced to Hiashi proved to have been unfounded.

* * *

 _Three years later - Tsukiko aprox. 11 years old._

Tsukiko was awake far earlier than she should have been but her excitement for the coming day was keeping her from sleeping any longer. It was her final day at the Academy and she was going to graduate and become a Genin - there was no way she was going to fail that exam!

After eating breakfast Tsukiko went and sat outside in the courtyard garden to read and kill time before she was to go to the Academy. In her time since coming to the Hyuuga compound Tsukiko had collected a large array of books, all of which she kept in messy, but perfectly organised, piles in her bedroom - which apart from books was only furnished with a bed and a table as she had to removed everything else to fit her books.

"Tsuki-neechan?" She heard her name being called and without looking up from her book knew who it was, "Are you out her?"

"Hina-chan," She called back, "Over hear."

Hinata looked around the garden and quickly spotted a trail of long orange coloured hair draped out from behind a tree, "Ah, there you are! I couldn't find you in your room and didn't know where you might have been,"

"You didn't knock anything this time right?" Tsukiko questioned reading the last line of the page before closing it and smiling up at Hinata,

"No, I didn't. And I didn't mean to last time either," Hinata pouted remembering the incident. Tsukiko had fallen asleep on the floor while reading and as Hinata covered her in a blanket to keep her from getting cold the blanket caught on a pile and it caused multiple other piles to fall over with it. She moved the conversation, "Are you ready for your exam today?"

"I am!" Tsukiko confirmed with a nod, "I am going come top of my class too!"

"Neji-niisan is graduating today too, right?"

"... He is," It was her turn to pout, for the last two years while she has been in his class she has always come second to him in every test and activity, except for in group activities where they both did rather badly but Neji seemed to so slightly worse, "But I will not loose to him again!"

"Good Luck, Neechan!" Hinata cheered for her, "Do your best!"

"Mhm!"

In the end Tsukiko came second. Again. By four points less than Neji.

She would have been disappointed if it wasn't for the fact that she was still so excited to have passed and been promoted. They had already decided on squads and Tsukiko was placed in Team 4 with two boys from her class, Shion and Takashi. She had seen them around before and they appeared to already be very close friends and Tsukiko hoped that she would also come to be close friends with them too. She joined the line to get her genin forehead protector and accepted it from Ebisu-sensei with a small squeal and the brightest of smiles. She moved out of the way of the line and over to the window of the Academy building she ran a finger over the engraved Konoha symbol on the metal. She tied her hair into a high ponytail and pulled it around he shoulder so she could fasten the headband under her hair and position it high on her head. She pushed the wild hair back behind her, feeling it drape against the back of her thighs, and straightened the headband so the metal was centred. She had tied it rather crookedly so when she finished straightening it the knot holding it in place sat just behind her right ear. Tsukiko turned her head a few times to look at it from each angle and nodded to her reflection, liking how it looked. She huffed a laugh to herself, she didn't think she could be any happier than she was at that moment,

"...and she isn't even from our village, why is she even here?"

"She thinks she is so special with her kekkei genkai too, but honestly, it is just so creepy,"

"She is such a freak. I can't believe we had to be grouped with her."

"I know. It is going to be terrible,"

"Are you really with her? I'm with Neji and that kid who can't do ninjustu. Seriously, I thought I had it bad, but I think you have it worse,"

Tsukiko's smile faded. It always seemed to happen that she couldn't stay happy for long. She glanced at their reflections in the window before she turned to look at Shion, Takashi and the other two boys who they were talking with. It took little time at all before she caught Shion's eye and he froze realising she had overheard him. He elbowed Takashi to get his attention and when he caught her eye he too retreated from her but then stopped, seemingly realising that they out numbered her. Takashi bee lined towards her, calling as he closed the gap,

"It's all true, though," He leered, "You're only an outsider, you don't even belong here,"

"You don't deserve to be in our group," Shion joined, "You will only let our team down."

"You know how they decide the squads right?" She asked coolly, sighing and leaning against the wall of the Academy building. She didn't wait for an answer "They pair the highest scoring students with the lowest scoring. It helps balance the strengths of all the teams and means the stronger members have to cover for the weaker members inabilities. And I got the second highest score, so..."

"So?" Shion spat,

"So... That means it will be you both, not me, who will be letting the team down. And I will have to be the one to save you if - no, when - you find yourselves in trouble,"

"What?!"

"Are you saying that we are weak?"

"I thought that was obvious?" Tsukiko spoke with a dry laugh, though she was starting to question if provoking them and getting into a fight after having just been promoted was a good idea - though it seemed to late to question it now that the fight was about to start, "Just proves my point though. Neither of you are very intelligent, are you?"

Neither of them took to kindly at her taunt and Takashi closed in on her.

She scolded herself, ' _Yep, too late to question it now. Well done, Tsuki, getting yourself into another fight already.'_

Takashi's punch was slow and hesitant and Tsukiko was able to dodge it easily by ducking as she pushed off from the wall. As she jumped a low kick from Shion she heard his punch connect painfully with the concrete of the Academy building. The four boys attacked in a way that allowed them to surround her and it made it harder for her to keep up blocking and dodging their attacks. She knew if she used her kekkei genkai the fight would be over in a second, but something about using it for a playground scuffle made her feel like it was cheating. So instead she kept up as long as she could with taijutsu only. Eventually her inability to read where the next attack was going to come from caused her to hesitate and misjudge a punch from Takashi and it caught her under the rib cage. The other boys took the opportunity to land a few more attacks before she was able to regain her bearings and create distance from them,

"Not as strong as you seem to thing you are, eh, Outsider?" Takashi commented, rounding on her again,

The fight had now gathered the attention of nearby students and from behind Shion's head she could see Ebisu-sensei heading towards them quickly and she knew she didn't have much time left in this fight. She was currently overwhelmed and if the fight ended now that would mean she had lost. She had only two options; fight unfairly and win, or lose fairly. But Tsukiko was stubborn, very stubborn, and more than anything she didn't want to lose. That made her decision a rather easy one to make, she needed to end this fight before Ebisu-sensei arrived,

"I've been going easy," She provoked with a small smile, "But sorry, we are out of time and I need to end this now. And I'll do it with only one hand."

She made a show of hiding one hand behind her back and with the other signalled for them to attack. Takashi came for her first with a succession of punches but now that she had regained space they were slow and easy to avoid. She kept her hand behind her as they attacked in the same pattern as before and attempted to surround her. She let them get close while waiting for Ebisu-sensei to arrive and when he was close enough everything fell into position.

She activated her kekkei genkai.

 _'I wonder how creepy you find it when it's used against you?'_

From the one hand she had outstretched she extended the bones from four of her finger tips and in the blink of an eye she had them coiled around the four boys necks and held them just off the ground so they tiptoed to keep from choking. The very tip end of the bones pressed against the underside of their chins, forcing their heads to look upwards,

"This bone is sharpened to a scalpel-like point, if you move your head to look down you will end up slitting your own throats," Tsukiko warned in a low voice, though was actually lying as she had rounded off the tips to a blunt edge to prevent from hurting them, "If you move in a way that I don't like I will slit your throat for you,"

 _'Not that I actually would...'_

"Now tell me," She continued, "Do you surrender?"

"Tsukiko!" Ebisu-sensei cried, "Stop this. Let them down!"

"Tell me you surrender!" Tsukiko yelled at the boys,

"I surrender," Shion choked out,

"Same, we surrender!" Takashi agreed,

Satisfied she let them down and they all fell coughing on the ground and clutching their throats,

"I lied" She confessed, "The tip was blunt, you weren't in any danger of having your throat cut."

"Tsukiko..." Ebisu began,

"Sensei, she tried to kill us!" Takashi yelled, "She attacked us unprovoked!"

"What? No I didn't. They-"

"Its true, Sensei" Shion agreed,

Tsukiko looked around at the gathered crowd around her. They had all seen how the fight started. They knew she wasn't to blame for starting it she only finished it, but yet they all stayed silent and no one spoke up to defend her. As she caught eye contact with many who had stood by to watch they turned away from her and began to move on. Why did this keep happening? Tsukiko often found herself in fights with her peers, but of all the fights she had been in none of them had been antagonised by her. Even in the fights she only ever defended herself and never took an offensive stance.

"If this is true, Tsukiko," Ebisu spoke slowly, "To use such violence against you own team... I'm sorry I am going to have to ask for your forehead protector and-"

"Sensei, it isn't true-"

"It is! She wanted to hurt us-" Takashi insisted,

"Its not true," A cold voice cut across them and Tsukiko froze knowing whose voice it was, "If she really wanted to hurt you - or was trying to kill you - she would have. You were all caught around the throat and no a single one of you could have prevented it from happening or got loose after she had you."

"What would you know, you weren't even here to see," Takashi complained,

"You think my eyes can't see this far?" His retorted with a slight laugh,

Tsukiko finally turned to look at Neji who had come to her defence. He stood a few meters away from her and with him another boy from their class stood. He didn't look at her and his expression was hard to read, she felt that there were a million other places in the world he would rather have been. When he finally did glace her way and she caught his eye she straight away turned his head to look away. _'He really does hate me, doesn't he?'_

"She... she was going to slit our throats..." Shion tried weakly,

"It was blunt. I wasn't going to kill you... I just... wasn't going to lose that fight either..." Tsukiko explained trailing off,

"Neji?" One of the other boys from the fight spoke up, "What are you doing? We are in the same team?"

Neji shot him a glance but didn't dignify him with an answer,

"It is true, Sensei" The other boy from beside Neji spoke, he had shiny black hair and large bushy eyebrows - _'Wasn't he the one who had no aptitude for ninjutsu?'_ \- he turned to Tsukiko when he spoke, "I was going to intervene. Four against one is an unfair fight. But..." He glanced at Neji and she understood that he had stopped him from intervening,

"No, it's okay. Thank you, but... I had it under control..." She trailed off as she caught Neji's eye again. She wondered why he actually had prevented the other boy from intervening, _'Did he want me to loose? Or did she know I could win?'_. For the first time since she met him, Neji didn't look away from her.

* * *

 **NEXT TIME-**  
CHAPTER 2: _"But if I don't belong here, then where exactly do I belong?"_


	3. CHAPTER 2: Introductory Arc, Part 2

**CHAPTER 2:  
** "But if I don't belong here, then where exactly do I belong?"

* * *

Due to the altercation of the previous week Ebisu and the other Academy instructors deemed in necessary to change the genin squads around to prevent anymore incidences. Tsukiko had not been given the details on her new team except that that it was Team 10 and she was given the locations of where they were going to have their first team meeting. She was both excited and nervous to meet them and found herself arriving at the top balcony of the Hokage building, where they were going to have their meeting, almost an hour too early. She didn't mind however, it was a nice day and from such a high position she was able to gain a view of the whole village. It was beautiful and she made a mental note that she should bring a book up here one day and pass the afternoon being unproductive. She spent the hour she was early leaning on the railing and watching the world below her pass by. There was a strong breeze, but it was nice, and it caught in her hair blowing it past her shoulder. Hearing the latch of the door click behind her she almost wondered where the past hour had gone, she had barely noticed it. She swept her hair to the side as she turned with a smile to greet the person passing through the door,

"Hello- _oh?_ " Tsukiko questioned, upon seeing the person who had entered was Neji.

He had already turned away from her and was walking towards the other side of the balcony before she could even finish her greeting,

"Good afternoon," Was his short and formal greeting in return,

She watched him pass by without saying anything else. ' _What is he doing here?_ '. She knew her team was meant to be meeting here so then why was Neji there? They were both top ranked students so it is not like they would get place in the same squad, that would make for an even balance. Tsukiko held her silence for a little while longer and turned to sit on the railing and face the door. But before long her curiosity got the better off her,

"Ah.. So what are you doing here?" She asked cautiously,

"Our team meeting is here,"

 _'Our team,'_

"Huh?"

"Team Gai,"

"That is my team, we wouldn't both be placed in the same team?"

"Did they not tell you what happened when deciding on the new teams?" Neji asked, genuine curiosity in his voice,

"Should they have?" She asked slightly worried,

"...Probably not."

Tsukiko blinked in confusion. ' _What did that mean?_ '. She jumped down from the railing and crossed the balcony to where Neji stood leaning against the rail and looking away from her,

"Well, can you tell me?" She asked and when he didn't reply she swung herself over the railing and lent into his line of vision so he couldn't look away, "Please?"

"You asked to know," He warned and she nodded firmly.

He told her how the teams went through multiple swaps as they tried to create a team that would work with her. But every team they created had one or both the members refuse to participate - even begging to return to the Academy and wait another year to avoid being with her, or threatening to quit being a ninja. Neji explained how after the fight with Shion and Takashi everyone was too scared to work with her as they were convinced that during the fight she had intended to kill them. After hearing this Tsukiko sighed heavily and buried her face in her arms as she lent against the railing beside Neji. It hurt her, more than she would have liked to admit, that everyone hated her so much. She already knew they viewed her as an outsider, but she didn't think it would ever come to be such a hatred. She blinked away hot tears from her eyes, refusing to cry over this, especially in front of Neji. After a while she finally lifted her head back, no longer feeling the sting of tears, and kept her eyes closed to the warm light of the sun.

"So why are you here then?" Tsukiko asked opening her eyes, unable to keep the bitterness from her voice, "Aren't you scared of me too?"

"No," Neji scoffed, "Why would I be scared of someone weaker than me? You came second to me at the Academy."

She narrowed her eyes, questioning whether she should be offended by that,

"And given that Lee was willing to intervene in your fight," He continued, "I gather that he isn't too afraid of you either"

Lee, so that was the name of the other boy, he must be the third member of Team Gai. She remembered then that Neji had stopped Lee from intervening in her fight and she had been wondering about his motive for doing that,

"But seriously," She pressed on, ignoring that question for another more pressing one she had been wanting to ask, "Why are you here, it's not like I'm you favourite person. I know you don't like me living with the main family-"

"I don't like anyone involved with the Hyuuga main family, it's not you in particular," He hesitantly replied,

"What do you have against the main family?"

"You live with them, ask them yourself what they did,"

"What did th-"

Neji activated his Byakugan and Tsukiko whirled around to face the door, both sensing the rapidly approaching person

"DYNAMIC ENTRY!" A voice bellowed,

A flash of green caught in her periphery as she turned, unable to keep up with the movement. Standing in the centre of the balcony space a man, in a bright green jumpsuit, stood with his arms and legs spread wide. He had shiny black hair cut into a short bowl cut with thick, busy eyebrows. He had his head turned from them and he grinned widely looking into the distance. Tsukiko was caught by surprise and stood blinking at the man before her. Before she could respond he turned towards them, trusting a thumbs up in their direction,

"Congratulations genin!" He cheered loudly, "The three of you- wait, where is the third?"

He narrowed his eyes in confusion and, as if on cue, Lee ran through the door to the balcony his breaths slightly laboured. Tsukiko didn't catch everything he said as he bowed rapidly in apology for his lateness; 'needed to finish', 'won't quit or give up early'. What ever it was he had said the man in the leotard seemed impressed and spoke with as much excitement and speed as Lee and so she only caught parts of what he said but heard most emphatically; 'The Power of Youth!'. Ever since the man had appeared Tsukiko had been frozen in her spot with her mouth slightly agape not knowing how to respond. Looking back and forth between Lee and the man before them, who had since started hugging the boy, she still didn't know how to respond. He side glanced towards Neji, just as he did the same to her and they shared a look of bewilderment and slight concern. She felt laughter well up inside her which she was unable to stop as she turned back to the scene in front of her. Her laughter triggered everyone else to laugh as well and when she glanced in Neji's direction she was forced to do a double take to see whether she just mistook his usual smirk for a genuine smile or whether he actually...

Noticing her double take he quickly looked his face from him. That confimed it,

 _'So he can actually smile...'_

When their meeting began Tsukiko learnt that the strange, leotard-wearing man was their new squad leader, Might Gai. He told them about himself; that he was a jonin specialising in taijutsu, his favourite foods were extremely spicy curry and curry udon, he had no least favourite food, and that his interests included side jumps and hitting pads. The then asked to hear about them and what they hoped to gain from the future.

Lee went first; his favourite food was curry pilaf, he also had no least favourite food, and his interest included putting all his effort into everything he did. He grew serious when he thought about his future and told them that as he had no aptitude for ninjutsu or genjutsu he wanted to become a respected ninja relying only on taijutsu techniques. Both Gai and Tsukiko were impressed by his determination but Neji only smirked and told him it was impossible.

Neji went after Lee; his favourite food was Nishisoba, his least favourite was pumpkin, and he had an interest in leapfrog. When prompted by their Sensei about his hope for the future Neji explained that he had no hopes, the future was set as it was and there was nothing anyone could do to change it,

"Lee will never be a respected ninja on taijutsu alone," Neji answered firmly, "It takes more than that and is a waste of time trying to change what fate has decided. And Tsukiko, you will always be an outsider and there was nothing she can do to change that either. That is how your place in life has been set."

There as a drawn out silence after he said that and Gai prompted Tsukiko that it was her turn. She told them that; her favourite food was spring rolls, her least favourite food was sushi, and her interests included reading and collecting new books. When thinking about her hopes for the future she smiled,

"I know I am an outsider. And I know there are people that don't accept me in the village, or as part of the Hyuuga main family" Tsukiko explained, throwing a non-subtle glance toward Neji, "But if I don't belong here, then where exactly do I belong? With my Clan? Oh, wait, I am the last remaining member. With the whoever looked after me before I came here? Wait, I can't remember them. This is all I have now - Hina-chan, Hinabi-chi and Hiashi-sama - they are my family and with them is where I belong. So my hope for the future? I want to everyone understand what I already know to be true; that this is exactly where I belong."

After the meeting Gai had explained to them that there was one last test they had to pass before becoming genin. It involved going out to one of the training grounds on the other side of the village and sparing against him. Tsukiko did not know what Gai-sensei was looking for during the fight but, when it was over, he happily exclaimed to them that they all passed and were now officially members of Team 10. All and all it had been a long and tiring day; both physically and emotionally. She was happy to finally be back home at the Hyuuga compound, where she could relax,

"Here is your tea, Tsuki-neechan" Hinata placed in lightly on the table before her and took a set on the floor on the other side of the table.

Tsukiko thanked her quietly and took a sip of her tea and tightly wrapped her hands around the warm cup. It wasn't cold or anything, but nothing bet the soothing warmth of a hot drink after a long day,

"How do you think it will be being in a team with Neji-niisan?" Hinata asked, continuing their conversation which had been put on pause while she made them both tea,

"I don't know," She answered honestly, "I don't think he hates me as much as it seems he does... But... Hina-chan, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course," She answered without hesitation,

"He said something to me today that has been bothering me?" ' _Actually, he said a few things, but this one in particular_ '

"Hm?"

"' _I don't like anyone involved with the Hyuuga main family'_ \- and when I asked why, he didn't say only that I should asked about what happened..." Tsukiko trailed off seeing the pain in Hinata's face, "Ah, I shouldn't have asked. I'm sorry, Hina-chan, for bringing up something that-"

"No, its okay," Hinata smiled softly, "I'll tell you what happened,"

Hinata told her about the 'Hyuuga Affair' and what happened to lead to the death of Neji's father. Tsukiko listened in silence to everything Hinata had to say and when she was finished the two sat in companionable silence drinking their tea, both lost in their own thoughts. Hearing about the Hyuuga Affair put everything into perspective. Tsukiko now understood where Neji's hostility came from and why he viewed her in such a light. It explained why he acted the way he did, keeping her and everyone else at a distance,

"What was he like when you knew him?" She broke the silence,

"He was a kind child, gentle and he smiled a lot," Hinata raised her eyes from the table and looked at her with a smile on her face, she liked the question, "He was a lot more open than he is now, he has become very closed off. But I don't think any of the kindness he had back then has gone."

"Do you miss him?" Tsukiko found the question fall from her lips before she could stop it,

"I do. One day I hope things will be different,"

As they finished their tea Hiashi appeared in the arch way and asked if they would help train with Hinabi while he was out answering a summons from the Third. They both happily agreed and they soon found Hinabi already in the courtyard practicing alone.

"Hinabi-hime," Tsukiko greeted, using the suffix she knew annoyed her and the young Hyuuga heiress turned to smile at her,

"Aneki! " Hinabi happily called, "I told you not to call me that."

Though, secretly, she liked the cute name her oldest sister called her and felt it was something special just between the two of them as they weren't really related and Tsukiko didn't need to be so formal around her as heiress of the Hyuuga. That was why she was so comfortable referring to her so informally as Aneki but referred to Hinata, her biological sister, as oneechan.

"Are you really training with me? It's been ages since we trained together"

"I know, and I'm sorry too," Tsukiko apologised, feeling bad for not being able to find time to spend training with her, "Hina-chan is coming soon she is just putting our teacups away. Though, I did say to leave it and I would do it after."

"Shall we start without her then?" Hinabi questioned, "We could have a sparing match while we wait?"

"Mhm!"

They both moved into position in the courtyard and Hinabi attacked first almost instantly, she was swift and gained the upper hand by catching Tsukiko off guard. She was able to dodge it barely and spent the next few attacks clumsily dodging while trying to regain a position to attack back. She finally was able to place a low kick forcing Hinabi to retreat and allowing Tsukiko to balance herself,

"I forget how fast you are," She laughed as she began her offensive, striking at Hinabi with an open palm - miming the gentle fist technique despite not having Byakugan to actually use the technique.

Hinabi was quick and small in stature which made catching her hard, and Hinabi knew this and used his to her strength. Tsukiko was the same when it came to fighting people her own age, despite being Hinata's older sister she was shorter than her, by a considerable amount, and it was only a matter of time before Hinabi out grew her too. And so, being small herself, she knew exactly how Hinabi fought, and was able to foresee many of her movements. Forcing Hinabi to jump over a low aimed kick Tsukiko used the opportunity to place a well timed strike to her left shoulder,

"Ha! blocked off chakra to that arm," Tsukiko informed her, as that is what would have happened she could block chakra paths,

Hinabi placed that hand behind her back and the two continued going. Hinata finally came to join them just as Tsukiko lost the ability to use her left leg and was forced to told it perfectly straight and not use in in anyway that meant bending the knee. Fighting after the loss of leg movement was extremely difficult and multiple times Hinabi scolded her for accidentally bending it. Eventually Hinabi was able to force her right arm out of the game and was easily able to land a strike against her heart after than. Tsukiko lost the match,

"I just cannot compete with your gentle fist abilities, Hinabi-hime," Tsukiko shook her head,

"This is true," Hinabi admitted with a bright smile, "Though even if you could do the gentle fist, none of your attacks actually hit a spot that would close the chakra paths,"

Tsukiko laughed and praised her modesty as they went to take a break by Hinata. Tsukiko asked if Hinabi had eaten since she began training with Hiashi and when she said she hadn't Tsukiko left to get her a snack, worried that she would over exert herself if she didn't take proper breaks to eat and rest while training. She returned from the kitchen a little while later with two bananas and a large glass of milk on a tray and caught the last part of Hinata and Hinabi's coversation,

"... I don't see why you like him so much, Oneechan," Hinabi was saying, and Tsukiko caught a glimpse of Hinatas blushed red face and became intrigued,

"Like who so much?" She questioned with a raised eyebrow as she handed the tray down to Hinabi,

"Naruto Uzumaki," Hinabi informed after a large drink, "The outcast boy in town everyone hates,"

She frowned unable to think who Hinabi referred to, "I thought I was the outcast everyone hated?"

"... Stop it..." Hinata complained in a quiet whisper,

"Well then, someone tell me about this boy who has Hina-chan so flustered," Tsukiko smiled brightly, "One day I would like to meet him if he is so special she has fallen for him."

* * *

 **NEXT TIME-**  
CHAPTER 3: "Fear was a new emotion for her, she couldn't remember having ever felt it before now, but she discovered she didn't like it"  
 **\+ SPECIAL CHAPTER**

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:** So there are a just couple of things I would like to address about this fic/this chapter quickly while I have the chance,

1.) Tenten: For the purpose of this story, yes, I did have to eliminate Tenten's character. IM SORRY, TENTEN, I LOVE YOU! But it kind of just had to be that way. I didn't want to make it a squad of 4 because that is not true to canon and I couldn't remove Neji because of obvious reasons (it is a Neji love story, I mean come on!) and Lee and Gai are like a pair so I couldn't remove Lee either... So that only left one choice. I might try and throw her in somewhere else unexpectedly for a bit of fun just to not completely erase her from the fic.

2.) Hinabi and name suffixes: Yes, I do realise '-chi' is not a real suffix – it is only one used in anime and manga to be cutesy in stead of '-chan'. But I wanted Tsuki and Hinabi to have that sort of informal relationship while Hinabi and Hinata's was more formal. The use of '-hime' is a light hearted jest over Hinabi's high status within the clan. Hinabi's choice to call Tsuki 'aneki' is again to show an informal, casual relationship. From what I am awear, I am no expert however, 'aneki' is an almost slang-like kind of way way to address a close older female which means 'older sister' and it also carries a respected connotation. I thought it would be more informal than '-Oneechan' or 'neechan' which Hinata uses and also show that Hinabi looks up to her. I wont really be able to give Hinabi the same attention I will give Hinata so I wanted a way that demonstrates how close they are – despite not being able to detail it in the fic.

Anyway, if you have made it this far through my story, even though we really have only just begun, I wanted to say a quick thank you. I really hope you are enjoying it so far. I know it is really cliché at the moment and reads just like any other arrogant self insertion fic (which it isn't btw- Tsukiko is actually based loosely on my rival - 'cause seriously no fic would be interesting with someone like me as the MC haha) But... that is only for the moment, trust me on that. I need to establish ground work before I can really throw in the plot twists so really I hope you stick with me for a while to see all that happen.

I have this whole story planned out until the Invasion of Pain Arc and I will begin foreshadowing events and dropping sneaky hints within the next few chapters about some of the major plot elements to come in the future. I might even drop other sneaky hints in my little A/N as well on what symbolism and ideas to look for.

Also, next chapter will come with a little extra special chapter... Ooooooh... I wonder what that will include, huh?


	4. CHAPTER 3: Introductory Arc, Part 3

**CHAPTER 3** :  
"Fear was a new emotion for her, she couldn't remember having ever felt it before now, but she discovered she didn't like it."

* * *

For the past few months Team Gai's missions were boring, tedious rank-D missions. They had pulled weeds from a number of gardens, delivered numerous letters, ran small errands and found over a dozen missing cats - more than half of which had all belonged to the same single owner. Tsukiko was bored. None of these missions were challenging enough, and she wasn't the only one to think so.

That is why it was decided that Team Gai would go on their very first... Rack-C mission.

Of course that it itself was not the interesting part, rank-C missions were still tedious. The exciting part was that the mission itself involved escorting a travelling merchant from Konohagakure to Sunagakure, and at the end of the mission they would be able to freely spend a day in the village before returning to Konoha. That part was what made the mission exciting for Tsukiko. She had never before had a chance to leave the village since she arrived, not that she ever thought of wanting to leave though. But, now that the chance had arrived she was both excited and very nervous. She spent days leading up to the mission packing and re-packing her bag with help from Hinata and Hinabi, but eventually she went to Hiashi for help on the final decision and when he was done her bag was half as heavy as when she had started but he still insisted she would still have everything she needed.

They met at the main gate into Konoha in the early hours of the morning, when it was still a little dark, so they would be able to cover as much ground as possible before stopping to make camp at nightfall,

"Is everyone ready?" Gai-sensei asked excitedly after everyone assembled and when they all agreed they set out.

The man they were escorting, Hori, was a merchant who had travelled to Konoha to sell some type of rock from the desert and had the remains in a small cart which he pulled along as they walked. He was a chatty sort of man, maybe a bit younger than Hiashi, and was highly amused by Gai and Lee's antics. Tsukiko found him to be rather weird and so didn't really try to talk with him and instead was able to walk alongside her team quietly marvelling at all the sights and sounds that were all new to her as they travelled; a waterfall, wide raging river, and large mountain ranges. She seemed to take more interest in her surroundings than her peers did and she could only guess that they had been out of the village more times than she had and had already seen the same or similar sights to the very ones she marvelled at. The whole days travel came and went before she had even realised it as she was so wound up in everything except the time. But when darkness began to fall she found herself less willing to move too far away from her Team's camp and the far away sounds which she couldn't explain began to play on her imagination. Eventually she decided that if she needed to pee at anytime during the night she would have to just hold it until morning when the sun came back. Tsukiko wasn't so sure what it was about the dark that scared her so much, she usually wasn't at all scared and it wasn't like the prospect of a bandit raid during the night worried her too much either, but still there was something about the situation that caused her to feel anxious and afraid. Fear was a new emotion for her, she couldn't remember having ever felt it before now, but she discovered she didn't like it.

Her team took shifts staying awake to keep watch and Tsukiko was on the second shift with Neji, while Gai and Lee went first, and she was able to get some sleep before being woken up to switch. Or rather, she was meant to be able to get some sleep. She found that when she actually laid down and closed her eyes sleep evaded her. And as the minutes of laying there turned into hours she soon felt a soft hand on her shoulder as Lee came to wake her so she could take his place. She packed up her blanket and moved over to the fire where Neji was and sat down by him to keep watch until morning. They passed the hours without talking and morning came without anything occurring on their watch. Tsukiko felt considerably more tired than she had felt before her shift started and silently cursed her anxiety as now she still had to continue traveling on towards Suna.

* * *

Despite her yawns and exhaustion she managed to pass the day similar to how she did the previous day - marvelling and exclaiming over new sights and sounds. Hori had moved his attention on from Gai-sensei and Lee and found her innocent excitement amusing and asked her questions and talked to her as they travelled and she found that her previous days assessment of him was a little harsh - that, or the sleep deprivation was starting to get to her. Either way it helped pass the day and, like the previous day and night, nothing suspicious occurred and their mission was going smoothly. As they emerged from the forest Hori suggested to them that they camp on the edge of the desert for the night and cross tomorrow and Gai-sensei agreed. Standing on a cliff edge Tsukiko was pleased that they were camping there and she smiled at the view. Spread out before her was the vast golden sands of the desert that stretched out as far as the eye could see. The earth lay underneath a similarly golden sunset and the sun had only just started to touch the horizon line. She found herself in awe of it and verbalised how amazing it was,

"Doesn't get out much does she?" Hori laughed, "All she has done for the past two days is exclaim over the silliest things!"

She narrowed his eyes at him, _'Maybe my original judgement was right after all...',_

But she simply ignored him and sat down and watched the sunset it its entirety until the golden light had completely faded and was taken over by the dark blue of the night sky. And it wasn't until it was over and Tsukiko got up to move that she noticed that both Lee and Neji had also joined her in watching the desert sunset. It was then that she also realised that even thought it was completely dark now she no longer felt any anxiety...

* * *

They crossed the desert the next day and the sand, the heat, and the wind all made the trip that much more difficult. The previous night she had managed to sleep for an hour or two but was mostly stuck being awake, waiting for Lee or Gai-sensei to come 'wake her' to change look out shifts. Due to her share exhaustion and the extra strain of walking in the desert Tsukiko soon lagged behind her team members a little. Eventually, although she hadn't fallen to far behind, Gai called for her to catch up - which to do meant she had to run.

"Sorry, Sensei-" She began, as she caught up but something made her stop and look around them. ' _Was there someone...?'_

A similar feeling of anxiety that she had during the night crept over her.

She fell into step with Gai-sensei and furrowed her brow as she glanced around. Her eye eventually caught Lee's and he nodded slightly to her, indicating that the strange feeling she had was something they all were feeling - though she was simply the last to pick up on it. Her gaze followed around the rest of her team and seeing Neji's face in profile, as he turned his head towards her and their sensei, she found that his Byakugan was activated. He nodded ever so slightly and Gai-sensei turned back towards the merchant they were escorting and they all stood around him in circle,

"How many can you see?" Gai asked, narrowing his eyes and taking a defensive stance,

"Its a 6 man group. All underground and they split off in pairs," Neji informed in a low voice, "One pair directly in front of Tsukiko, one to my left, and one between you and Lee."

"Who are they?" Lee questioned as he took on a stance similar to his mentor,

"Bandits, probably," Gai answered, "After the merchandise, or the money, if they can get it. Neji, where are they now?"

"About fifteen metres out and closing in quick; Thirteen... Twelve... Eleven..." Neji continued, counting down slowly.

"How deep down? Think I can draw them out?" Tsukiko asked, already digging the bones of her fingertips into the sand,

"Maybe. How far can you accurately reach? Two metres down. Nine meters out... Eight..."

"Can you reach them, Tsukiko?" Their Sensei questioned calmly,

"...Yeah..."

 _'Just have to get in position and line up the strike...'_

Neji continued counting down, "Seven... Six..."

In a split second Tsukiko struck at them under the sand with her bones made into a sharp whip. Two of the three pairs emerged from the sand to evade her attack. However she caught one of the pair directly in front of her and pulled her hand up, using her bone whip to drag them forcefully out from underground. As he flew through the air she discovered their opponents were Suna-nin. The particular one she caught now had an injury to his shoulder as the whip went straight through and out the back side of his shoulder blade. She ripped her bone back out through the wound and tangled him around the waist, pinning his arms to his side further down the length of the bone and turned her focus to finding the other ninja who had evaded unharmed.

Behind her the rest of Team Gai were in a stand off with the other Sunagakure ninja,

"We were hired to escort this man back to your village," Gai began, "Why are you attacking us?"

"This man is a thief and a traitor. He was made a missing-nin two days ago," The apparent leader of the Suna-nin team informed them as he held up a black bingo book open to a page with the merchants face on it, "We are here to eliminate him,"

The merchant smirked, "Then why don't you try?"

The Suna-nin lunged for him before anyone could stop him and as he passed by Lee he drew a kunai to stab Hori with, but the merchant remained where he stood and didn't dodge. The kunai pierced him, but instead of drawing blood the man burst into a puff of smoke and was simply gone. Neji activated his Byakugan and examined the area but there was no sign of him. Whenever he switched himself out for the clone it was a long enough time ago that he was now out of the range of Neji's Byakugan. _'Did he know Suna-nin were going to come for him?_ '

The leader of the Suna team swore as he realised what had happened and that their target had escaped.

Tsukiki released the tight grip she had on the ninja whose shoulder she had impaled and gently carried him closer to his team before letting go entirely so they could attend to his wound. She mumbled an apology for hurting him but he simply scowled at her in response. The sixth member of the group who had evaded her had rejoined his group again and he whispered quietly to the leader. Gai-sensei went to the cart and began searching through it, removing rocks from inside and throwing them in the sand. Buried beneath the rocks were scrolls and other artefacts - many bearing the Konoha symbol. It appeared that Hori wasn't simply in Konoha to sell unique items, but to steal them too. One in particular scroll caught Gai-sensei's attention and he put it in his pocket as he began searching faster, looking for something in particular but in the end not finding it.

"What is it, Sensei?" Lee questioned in a hushed voice, seeing something had bothered him,

"These scrolls are pretty much useless. The fact that Hori was able to steal them is troubling, yes, but they would not be dangerous in his hands. That is..." Gai made a quick glace to the Suna-nin before them before turning his back to show the scroll and continuing, also in a quiet voice, "All of them except this scrolls counter-part - which isn't here."

"What does that mean?"

"Either he wasn't able to get his hands on the scroll when he was back in Konoha..."

"Or he has it on him and escaped with it," Neji continued knowing where their Sensei's thoughts were going, "Could all of this have been decoy designed to give him more time to get away with it?"

"It is possible. We need to make sure for definite though," Gai answered, and furrowed his brow, "This mission is above a genin teams rank but we have no time to wait for another team."

"We can do it," Tsukiko affirmed and both Neji and Lee nodded in agreement.

Gai agreed that they had to at least try.

Catching onto their intentions the leader of the Suna-nin warned them against going after Hori.

"He is a missing-nin, that means Sunagakure has no rights to stop us going after him" Neji cut across him but the leader only shook his head,

"That's not what I mean. If it were my squad that was going to pursue him now then I would suggest a combined operation - that way we both get what we want," He told them, "But my orders were to eliminate him while he was unaware he had been caught and if I couldn't, then the Kazekage had another team to continue on where we failed. And that other team..."

He trailed off and looked away,

"You just really don't want to get in the way of that team," He warned cryptically, "Just trust me."

Tsukiko glanced over at Gai-sensei, not understanding why the man before her seemed so cautious of a team of his own comrades. _'What sort of team is he talking about?'_. But Gai's expression gave nothing away and if he knew the danger they faced going after Hori then did he didn't show it. The leader of the other squad seemed to understand and as he helped his injured comrade up he wished them luck. Tsukiko again apologised for causing his injury and watched as they passed out of sight back towards their village.

"So? What is the plan, Sensei?" Tsukiko asked finally.

* * *

They had spit into two teams making use of Neji's Byakugan and Gai's ninja tortoise's tracking abilities to cover as much ground as possible until Hori eventually came into range of either team. The plan was that in exactly four hours they were to meet back where they started - if both teams showed up then neither of them discovered where Hori had gone, but, if only one team arrived, then it meant the other had discovered him and then the other team was to head in their direction to assist. Tsukiko was paired with Neji and as they departed, heading back in the direction they had travelled from Konoha, Gai-sensei warned them that if they encountered Hori or the Suna-nin team sent to go after him then they were to not engage and were to wait and watch only until he arrived. He stressed that Hori was possibly not working alone and was too high a rank for two genin to face alone.

Following closely behind Neji Tsukiko allowed him to lead the way through the desert at a quick pace, making it back to the forest edge where they had slept the previous night in half the time. Her fatigue and exhaustion were still a problem for her, but the adrenaline and desire not to slow Neji down was enough to keep her moving in time with him. They paused at the tree line and had a look around, both concluding that he could have easily switched himself out for a clone while they were sleeping or were distracted while packing up camp.

"If I were a missing-nin trying to evade capture," Tsukiko theorised out loud, "I would go that-"

"That way," Neji pointed and she turned to see he pointed in the same direction as her, "The tree cover would protect from any aerial forms of tracking and the odds of the river we past yesterday running by that way are pretty high and could be used to distort his scent and keep anyone tracking him that way,"

"My thoughts exactly," Tsukiko agreed, talking absentmindedly as she examined the dirt for footprints or signs that he passed through, "The terrain will probably be more uneven than the desert and would allow for more hiding places. It was also Hori that suggested we camp here last night so chances are he knows the terrain and had planned to escape before crossing the desert towards Suna."

"I can't see anything yet, we will have to keep going," Neji told her as he began increasing his pace through the trees and she fell into step beside him, "We have about an hour to find him before we need to turn back to meet Gai-sensei and Lee."

Neji's prediction that the river would pass by was correct and on the far side of the bank muddy footsteps were still visible, not yet washed away by the strong water current. The footsteps lead up the bank but from there they vanished again - however they now knew that Hori had passed by this way. Tsukiko pressed on moving based on instincts rather than following signs that he had been there. She followed the incline of the hill on the other side of the bank and upon reaching the top she found that she was right in thinking the ground would be more uneven. The space on the other side of the hill was rocky and from the top of the hill they could see a far distance but the uneven ground created a lot of places to hide and evade capture. She crouched down to rest and regain some energy lost from climbing the hill. She took the time to examine the terrain completely and she mapped out the path she would take if she was the one trying to escape.

"We are almost out of time and I still can't see him," Neji told her as he crouched next to her and rubbed the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, his Byakugan deactivating

Tsukiko grew concerned, "Are you okay to keep using your Byakugan like that?"

"I'm fine," He insisted, "We should keep going, we are close, there is no use turning back just yet"

Tsukiko agreed with him, but at the same time was slightly worried over how much strain he was putting on his eyes. She knew if she kept the conversation going he would just shut her out and nothing would change. Instead she explained the direction she would go in through the rocky terrain and Neji agreed but said he would turn in a different direction to her about 200 metres from where they were both crouching. They agreed to look to the point where they disagreed on directions and if they still found nothing then they would retreat back to Gai-sensei and Lee.

She had convinced Neji to keep him Byakugan deactivated for a while to rest it and build back up some chakra while they walk and she was surprised he had listened to her. To make up for the lack of vision they both were on high alert and reacted to the smallest unexpected sounds and movements. This caution and the harsh terrain slowed their pace dramatically and looking back at how little distance they had travelled from the hill concerned her. They didn't seem to be going anywhere but she felt that she had walked double the distance. _'Is the lack of sleep is finally effecting me?'_. While Tsukiko had stopped to look back at the hill Neji continued, passing in front of her and walking on without her and when she ran to catch up to him she found herself unable to. She ran as fast as she could but his casual strolling seemed to be too quick to catch up with,

"Neji?" Tsukiko called but he didn't respond, "Where..."

 _'Something doesn't feel right?_ '

She stopped walking and properly examined her surroundings. The rock face she had been following was repetitive in the way it was formed and the same loose rocks littered the ground every few metres ahead.

 _'This is... a genjutsu.'_


	5. CHAPTER 3-1: Special

**SPECIAL POV:**

Heading down the hill Neji let Tsukiko lead the way and set the pace. He could tell that the strain of tracking and the pace he had set was starting to effect her due to her physical exhaustion. Over the past two nights when Neji had woken just to change sleeping positions and go back to sleep she had always been awake as well and he was sure that it was because she wasn't actually sleeping. She had yawned continuously throughout the day and was already slower than the group while they walked through the desert but she never stopped or complained. Right now that exhaustion would only have become greater and she was probably only running off adrenaline, will power and her own stubborn personality that wasn't willing to give up or show weakness.

But even thinking that Neji knew he was being hypocritical. There was a strain on his eyes from keeping his Byakugan activated for so long and when she had asked if he was okay she had said he was fine. He wasn't exactly lying but he knew if he continued using it too much it would only get worse and would deplete his chakra even more - as it was already lower than he would care to admit. So he had followed her advice and didn't use it as they began their journey through the rocks.

Almost instantly after they were down the hill the air felt different, thinner. As if they had just climbed to the top of a mountain were the oxygen levels were almost too low to breath rather than just descended into a rocky gully. Continuing along behind Tsukiko Neji wasn't going to complain if she was able to deal with it. But very quickly he felt the thinning of air and the lack of oxygen effect him more and more. He felt dazed and confused and became lost in the rhythmic swaying of Tsukiko's hair as it moved with her. The vibrant orange was like a fire with it's own light and heat, it was beautiful and alluring, though he felt the need to shield his eyes from it brightness.

His memory faded back and he remembered a similar sight of the same fire dancing in the wind - no it wasn't fire, it was Tsukiko. She stood on the balcony of the Academy building with her back to him and all he could see was the flowing movement of her hair in the wind, its bright colour set against the blue sky. She turned slowly, sweeping her hair over her shoulder, and she smiled at him and he was frozen staring back at her,

 _'What is this coming from? I feel so tired'_

"Tsukiko!" Neji called to her as she walked on unfazed by the lack of oxygen.

 _'No, this isn't right...'_

"Tsukiko?" She still didn't turn.

He activated his Byakugan and everything felt clearer. It was a genjutsu, one with a sleep effect, and his lack of chakra made him slow to realising it - he had almost been trapped in it.

Clear headed again Neji looked around. Tsukiko had become caught in the jutsu and was already collapsed on the ground in a deep sleep, a small stream of blood trailed down her cheek from the impact with the ground. It wasn't unexpected, being so exhausted she had almost no chance to combating a sleep inducing genjutsu when her body would have welcomed the rest so easily. Whatever her genjutsu dream was he could tell it wasn't peaceful as her face contorted in confusion.

Further ahead he could now sense another chakra. It belonged to Hori and Neji knew must have been the one to set the one to cast the genjutsu to slow down anyone who tried to track him. He was about 80 meters ahead of Neji and Tsukiko and was moving closer towards them-

Quickly.

 _'Far to quickly.'_

Neji crouched down to Tsukiko and rapidly pulled her to the closest rock so she was leaning back against it and was out of the way so he could protect her until he had a chance to expel the jutsu. He barely had time to stand and brace himself to block the attack that came so swiftly from above.

* * *

 **NEXT TIME-  
** CHAPTER 4: _"To protect the ones we care about."_


	6. CHAPTER 4: Introductory Arc, Part 4

**((WARNING))** This chapter got a little darker than intended - trigger warning for: gore descriptions and minor self-harm mention

 **CHAPTER 4:  
** _"To protect the ones we care about."_

* * *

"Release!"

Tsukiko expelled chakra from her body to break the genjustu and woke up with a painful headache, laying on the hard rocky ground. She raised a hand to her head where the pain was coming from and drying blood came away with it and she resisted the urge to wince at the pain. It took a few hazy seconds for her to regain her bearings and remember what had happened. She focused on her surroundings and rapid movements caught in the corner of her eye and the surging killing intent made her freeze.

Neji was panting, and he dropped to one knee clutching his arm as blood trailed from under his sleeve and down to his wrist. He squinted with one eye completely closed and his Byakugan deactivated. Between Tsukiko and Neji, Hori stood with his back to her. He had the obvious upper hand in their battle and it was from him that she could sense the killing intent - he really was going to kill Neji. She raised silently from the ground and withdrew a bone from each wrist and crept silently up behind Hori. Neji didn't glace towards her or make any indication that he noticed she had broken her genjutsu.

"You aren't strong enough to win," Hori taunted, "And even if you could get close enough to break her genjutsu that airhead isn't likely to be any help. You might as well let me kill her while she is sleeping peacefully and save her the suffering."

The impact of Tsukiko's leap from behind caught Hori by surprise and he stumbled forward with her latched tightly onto him. She wrapped her legs over his shoulders and held both bones pressed digging into his chest, one over each lung, and hung forward over him,

"Who's suffering?" She asked in a whisper at his ear,

He attempted to throw her off and lost his balance in the process. She took advantage of the chance and rolled her weight forward using her centre of gravity to force them both to fall forward. However, where he landed face first onto the ground, she was able to break the fall with her roll and create distance from him.

Ending her roll at Neji's side Tsukiko spun back to face Hori, staying low to the ground in defense as he was quick to get back up again,

"Neji?" Tsukiko questioned, rising slowly to use herself as a shield between him and Hori, "How bad is that arm?"

He hesitated before answering, "It's fine,"

"Neji?" She insisted again,

"No, it is," He confirmed more promptly, "It isn't that deep and it still has movement. Nothings broken either,"

"Eyes?"

"I can't... I can't activate my Byakugan anymore,"

"Don't even try to-"

Hori cut her off by lunging towards her and she attacked back, countering his strike to draw him away from Neji. He was quick, a lot faster than her, and Tsukiko quickly understood how Neji came to be in such a situation.

Gai-sensei was right, he was in a class above them.

It didn't take long before Hori had disarmed her of one of her bone knives and placed a perfectly timed kick to her abdomen and she was pushed back into the rock face. For any normal person, with bones not as strong as hers, the impact would have been enough to break a number of bones. Hori followed up his attack and came for her again as she slumped to the ground. She threw her last bone knife at him to distract him while she extended her finger bones and used them as a whip cleanly striking him in the thigh as he was unable to completely dodge it. His body flickered and faded away and she realised it was just another genjutsu. Tsukiko stood up to defend herself as he again appeared, jumping down from the rocks above her. She leapt out of the way and his punch shattered the rock beneath where she was just standing. She raised her arms to block the flying debris.

 _'Damn, I don't even have a chance to attack back. He is too fast.'_

She had barely landed before Hori had drawn a sword to attack her again. There was nothing she could do except evade, her small stature coming in handy for that. Tsukiko knew she couldn't win and looked for an opening to allow Neji time to escape. She jumped back away from Hori to a large rock behind her, but, as she braced to land she found there was no hard surface and she fell through it. She broke his genjutsu and only had a second to brace for the impact of landing on her back on a steeply slopped rock. The impact knocked the wind out of her and she didn't have enough time to evade anymore as Hori appeared above her,

"DIE!" He cried as he positioned his sword to strike,

Tsukiki positioned herself to strike back at him at the same time, driving the tips of her fingers towards his stomach in a similar style to the gentle fist technique. They both tried to dodge the others attack but neither abandoned making their own. Hori's sword glanced past her neck, slightly cutting the skin while her own strike caught him cleanly even though he turned his hips to avoid taking the strike head on. It severely severed the muscles of his abdomen in a perfect slice and he retreated back to put pressure on it,

"I've still won this fight," Hori spat through gritted teeth, and almost instantly Tsukiko learnt what he meant as she collapsed to her knees,

The cut on her neck was bleeding profusely, far more than it should for such a small cut, and blood saturated her shirt. _'The blade's poisoned... Some type of anti-coagulant'._ Tsukiko focused her chakra to grow a bone over the area of the cut to prevent further loss of blood as Hori tied his shirt around his wound. He crossed over to her as she still tried to close her wound and he clamped a hand around her neck and dragged her up off the ground, held high above his eye level. The lack of oxygen and blood was making her feel dizzy and she found it hard to focus and stop the bleeding from her neck.

 _'Am I... Going to die?'_

The thought crossed Tsukiko's mind and the revelation shocked her,

 _'No... Please... I don't want to die...'_

Squeezing her eyes shut and using the last remaining amount of chakra she could she expelled every bone in her body that she could towards Hori, like a reversed iron maiden, each bone sharpened to a spear. She had never manipulated so many bones at once before but she needed to hit him. She needed to make him let go, and the panic was rising inside her. She needed to kill him,

 _'I wont die here... I wont... It's you or me,'_

Tsukiko felt the grip on her neck loosen and the ground came to meet her as they both crumpled. Her breaths were raspy and she coughed being able to breath in air again. Laying on her side Tsukiko retracted her bones back into her body and opened her eyes again to find Hori's lifeless, glassy eyes staring back at her. Blood splattered across his face and more pooled beneath him and spread across towards her. She rolled away from Hori's dead body and lay on her back with her eyes closed as she caught her breath. She was so tired, she wanted more than anything too sleep, but a voice nagged at her to open her eyes and called her name. It look a little while for her to realise that the voice calling her wasn't internalized, but someone was really there,

"Tsukiko?" Neji's voice sounded desperate and far away and she opened her eyes again to the cloudy blue sky above,

She tried to answer but her voice didn't come out. She felt numb. Tsukiko tried to stand up, putting her hand in the puddle of blood as she pushed up and supported her self. Her first few steps were stumbles as she tried to regain her balance. Looking down from above at Hori she was able to see the damage her final attack caused. It was gruesome. His body was mostly destroyed from the number of times it was impaled and the ground was soaked in blood. She backed away in horror at what she had done. Covering her mouth as bile rose up from her stomach and coughed as she was unable to supress it, her vomit splattering and mixing in with the blood.

"Tsukiko!" Neji called her again, his desperation and panic rising, she turned to him and found he was still kneeling on the ground where he was when she first broke the genjustu. She made her way over to him and crouched down slowly in front of him. He seemed to react to the sounds of her moving but his eyes were closed,

"You can't see, can you?" Tsukiko asked gently as she placed a hand on his shoulder and he flinched at the unexpected contact,

"Strain can cause temporary blindness," Neji informed her,

"Will you be okay?" She asked, choosing to focus on him to avoid the scene behind her,

"I wont be able to see or use my Byakugan for a few days, but it wont be permanent" He exhaled deeply, "I can't sense Hori's chakra anymore... Does that mean..."

"...Yeah, he is dead," Her voice cracked, and she was glad he couldn't see her as tears she couldn't stop began to stream down her face,

"What about the scroll?"

She reluctantly turned back to Hori's body, "I dont- If he had it on him then I doubt there is much left of it anymore"

"What do you-"

"I'm glad you can't see," Tsukiko cut him off, her voice angry and shaking, "That you can't see what- what...,"

 _'What I did... What I am capable of doing...That I am a monster'_

Neji tilted his head towards the hand on his shoulder and she realised that her grip had tightened and her whole body was trembling. She quickly let go and went back to Hori's body to look for signs of the scroll. She looked around for one of her discarded knife bones, as she was too low on chakra to produce anymore, and covered her face as she searched the bloody remains. Using the knife with shaking hands she moved bones and shreds of flesh and muscle out of the way and found soaked scraps of paper and knew that the scroll had been destroyed with him. Standing back up Tsukiko felt the soft tickle of sand against her face despite there being no wind blowing to cause the sands movement, nor any actual sand nearby to be blown about. She spun around and examined her surroundings and further away from them, standing at the top of a high rock face, three figures stood watching. The sun was at their backs and Tsukiko couldn't make out who they were. They made no move to attack and as she returned to Neji's side to notify him of their extra company they vanished again. _'Could that have been the team the Suna-nin mentioned?'_

Tsukiko helped Neji up of the ground so they could return to Lee and Gai-sensei, who were most likely close to finding them now as they didn't show up to the location where they agreed to meet. Neji was unsteady on his feet and uncomfortable not being able to see and so Tsukiko linked her arm around his and held his hand so he could lean on her if needed and guided him slowly and gently back up the hill and through the trees on the other side of the river bank.

They were half way back to the campsite on the edge of the desert when Lee and Gai-sensei found them and both Neji and Tsukiko collapsed where they intersected, too exhausted to continue walking. Gai and Lee were shocked to see the state they were in; Neji was completely blind and had an injured shoulder and Tsukiko had spent almost all of her chakra and appeared to be in an almost catatonic state as she sat on the ground, he face buried in her arms. Neji gave them a brief report on what had happened during their time apart, but couldn't give any proper details on what had happened to Hori and the scroll and when Gai asked Tsukiko to fill in the blanks she didn't raise her head or answer. Neji gave them directions to where the fight had happened and as both Lee and Gai made to leave Tsukiko stopped them, tears silently streamed from her eyes and she shook her head.

* * *

Gai had gone off alone to search for Hori and the scroll even though Tsukiko insisted that neither of them go. She sat separated from her two team mates as she tried to come to terms with what had happened. The numbness she had felt right after it happened had long since faded and she was left with the horrible realisation;

She had killed someone.

No - not just killed them, it was how she killed them - she almost completely obliterated them. It was a horror scene and Hori's dull, lifeless gaze and blood covered face haunted her memories. She was a murderer, a killer, a monster. Tsukiko felt sick, a physical ache all over her body and a tightness in her chest that made it hard to breath.

 _'I didn't want to die... But...'_

She was scared. Scared of herself and what she was capable of. She was scared that the fear and hatred people had treated her with was not unfounded and when Gai-sensei seen what she had done, the destruction she had caused, then he too would come to hate her and fear her.

Tsukiko rubbed away the tears and caught a look at her hands as she pulled them away from her face. They were covered in dry blood and so were her clothes, it was in her hair and the smell of it was all over her skin. She rummaged through her bag for clean clothes and poured water out from her bottle to scrub the blood off her skin. She felt the panic rising in her as the water changed to a pale red colour. Her breathing grew short and erratic as she scratched at her skin trying to remove the blood and blood coloured water. She didn't even notice that her scratching had broken the skin and she was only adding more blood to the mess.

Gai-sensei returned at that point and immediately asked Lee where she had gone and he pointed him to the tree she sat behind. Without saying anything he sat in front of her and placed a hand over hers to stay her scratching. She was too scared to look up and she froze staring at the back of his hand over hers. Eventually Tsukiko finally looked up at him, wide eyed and scared, and she found that his eyes were soft and understanding, they held no fear or hatred like she suspected they would.

"You did what you needed to do," Gai told her, his voice stern and uncharacteristically serious,

Tsukiko shook her head, "I killed him... I-"

"It's okay, you protected yourself and you protected your team mate, that is what matters. And that is your job as a ninja."

She continued shaking her head and Lee and Neji silenced their conversation to subtly listen in, neither knowing what the scene of the battle looked like or what had happened.

"It's okay," He continued softer when she didn't fight back, "You were never meant to be put in that situation and it was not something you were prepared for."

"He was going to kill me... He had me by the throat," Tsukiko told him, her hand subconsciously ghosting over her neck, "I couldn't breath and I couldn't fight back..."

"So you did what you needed to do,"

"So I panicked," She corrected, "All I could think was; 'I don't want to die.' I knew I was going to kill him but... But I didn't care. Are we allowed to just disregard another's life like that?"

"It is a difficult decision, one that you will probably have to make again at some point, Tsukiko," Gai-sensei explain, "You will have to make a choice - your life and your comrades or the enemies. It is the sacrifice we make as ninja to protect the ones we care about."

Tsukiko wiped her eyes and tried to steady her breathing. _'To protect the ones we care about...'_

"Neji?" Gai pressed on and after Neji called back he asked him, "If that fight ended differently, if Tsukiko was killed, would you have also survived?"

There was a silence before Neji answered, he seemed hesitant to answer, "No... I was done for before Tsukiko even broke the genjutsu,"

Gai didn't say anything in reply and he allowed Tsukiko some time to think about it.

There was no right or wrong decision in that situation; it wasn't right to take another life and it also wasn't right to let her comrades die. But fighting was the necessary decision.

Tsukiko thought she knew what it meant to protect someone, she had vowed to protect Hinata and Hinabi years ago and she believed she would go to any lengths to do so. But it wasn't until now that she fully understood just what that meant to protect someone and what it meant to be a ninja. But as she thought about it, Tsukiko realised she was willing to make that necessary decision again. She knew if were to relive it over again she would choose to fight, and to kill if she had do, she would do whatever it took to protect her comrades.

"Then I will make that sacrifice," Tsukiko affirmed, hardening her expression, "I will choose to fight, to survive and live on, in order to keep protecting everyone in the future."

Gai-sensei leaned back slightly, surprised by her conviction and determination, but also proud.

"I don't doubt that you will," He smiled down at her.

* * *

 **NEXT TIME-  
** CHAPTER 5: _"His face flushed deep red and it felt hot underneath the back of her hand"_


	7. CHAPTER 5: Introductory Arc, Part 5

CHAPTER 5:  
"His face flushed deep red and it felt hot underneath the back of her hand"

* * *

They arrived in Suna well after nightfall, after having rested in the forest as long as needed. Much to Neji's embarrassment Gai-sensei had insisted on carrying him to the village due to his tentative walking slowing their pace down so much and despite his complaining Neji at one point fell into a deep sleep, undisturbed by the bumpy movement of Gai walking. When they arrived at the guest house they were booked to stay in they were shown to their room and the staff had already prepared their futons. The sight of plush fabrics and soft pillow was the only thing in the room Tsukiko took notice of and she threw herself down onto it with a heavy sigh and a soft smile. It was like heaven and she slipped her bag off her back and pushed it away to be able to draw the blankets up over her.

Exhausted and finally able to sleep for the first time in two days Tsukiko slept well into the early afternoon of the next day. A note lay on the table from Lee saying that he and Gai-sensei had gone to see the Kazekage and would be back with food, but this was then crossed out and replaced with a second note saying they had gone to train and the food could be collected from the kitchen. Tsukiko folded up her futon and went and took a bath before collecting her breakfast and returning to the room. When she arrived, Neji had also risen and she greeted him as she sat down at the low table. His hair was let loose and there was now bandaging over his eyes, she also noticed he was not wearing his forehead protector and for the first time Tsukiko was able to see the seal on his forehead. She had seen it before on other branch family members foreheads, but this was the first time seeing his and she found herself staring.

 _'Good thing he can't see me'_

"Would you like breakfast?" Tsukiko asked, "Though, I guess it really is lunch by now,"

"Yeah, please," He confirmed and made his way to the table bumping his shin on the corner of it when he came too close and felt his way along the edge of the table to sit opposite her, "Gai-sensei and Lee?"

"Out training according to Lee's note," Tsukio laughed softly, their only day off in Sunagakure and they are using it to train, "It also said they went to meet with the Kazekage earlier this morning, I don't know what happened though,"

Tsukiko divided the food onto plates and slid one over towards Neji along with chopsticks and he slowly felt about for them on the table. She watched as he awkwardly struggled unable to see what he was trying to do and after almost finishing her own food she eventually took pity on him and moved around the table to be on the same side as him,

"Let me help-"

"No," Neji cut her off sharply, unwilling to give up, "I can do it,"

"Don't be so stubborn! Just let me help you," Tsukiko shot back, she knew he would protest and that was why she hadn't offered sooner, but now she wanted to help anyway,

He didn't respond and continued messily without her help,

"You're going to-" She tried to warn him that everything was about to fall of the chopsticks but was too late and only centimetres from his mouth everything spilt and bounced on the table. Neji froze after it happened, chopsticks poised suspended from him. He sighed, admitting his defeat, and placed them heavily down on the table and turned away to pout,

With a napkin Tsuki swept up the mess and threw it in the bin before returning to ignore his protests and help him. She picked up some food with the chopsticks and, with the back of her free hand, forcibly turned his head back to her and held the chopsticks in front of him but his mouth stayed shut,

"Really? Do I need to instruct you?" Tsukiko scolded, and with false sounding happiness she chimed in a sing-song voice, "Open wide~~"

Neji pulled a face but reluctantly did as she asked, his hunger obviously stronger than his pride at that moment. He frowned in annoyance and embarrassment and his face flushed deep red and it felt hot underneath the back of her hand. Tsukiko prepared more food while Neji ate and helpfully when he was done he parted his mouth to allow her to continue.

Midway through his third mouthful Neji pulled a face and turned away to stop her,

"Is there pumpkin in this?" He questioned after swallowing, frowning in disgust,

"Yeah?" Tsukiko answered, "Ahh, I remember you said you didn't like pumpkin during our first meeting. You really hate it that much?"

"You... remember that?" Neji sounded surprised as he trailed off, "I can't stand it, it is disgusting"

"Okay, I'll remove what I can find," She told him as she already started picking pieces out and placing them on the side of her unused plate, there wasn't much pumpkin and it only took a second for her to remove it all,

"That should be all of it, when you are ready..." Tsukiko informed him holding the chopsticks up for him, she couldn't help but laugh quietly at his compliance in allowing her to help him and he blushed again which only made her laugh more,

 _'So Neji has this sort of side too. It's really cute'._ The thought caught Tsukiko off guard and she froze. _'Wait, what?'_

Almost an hour after they ate Tsukiko decided she wanted to look around the village, it was her only free day off and it was still early in the afternoon so there was still a lot of the day left to explore. Despite his complaining at being unable to 'look around' Tsukiko forced Neji into coming with her as the light exercise would be good for him. Walking through crowds in the busy areas of the village she linked her arm with his to be able to guide with through without hassle and she described her surroundings to him. At first she thought it would annoy him, like she was patronising him, but he didn't complain or ask her to stop and even asked her for more details on a few things.

"So pretty much, what you are missing out on is the fact that everything is brown and made of sand," She joked and he surprised her by huffing laughing in reply, it wasn't much, but for Neji any form of laughter was a rare sound, "The buildings are all shaped into weird domes. The architecture is way better in Konoha,"

"You sound disappointed?" Neji questioned and the observation caught her by surprise,

"No, it's not that," Tsukiko assured, the novelty of being in a place outside of Konoha hadn't worn off even after such a journey to get there, "I guess if I could choose where I wanted to go for a mission break I just wouldn't choose the desert,"

"Where would you choose then?"

She thought about it for a moment, "Takigakure, I think. I read about it and it seems really beautiful. Stay at a relaxing ryokan with an onsen. Sounds like paradise."

"Maybe one day we will have a chance to go there,"

"I would like that,"

The two continued walking through Suna for a long while until the sun began to set, arms linked and mostly in companionable silence. Tsukiko stopped a few times to buy a few things from small market stalls, including ohagi for later that evening. She found small trinkets the buy and take back to the village for Hinata and Hinabi. After she told Neji this he became somewhat quiet and less responsive and Tsukiko wondered if it was because she reminded him of her connection to the main family. In the months since Team Gai had been working together they all worked well as a team and the initial animosity Neji had towards her faded away - except for times when her family ties were brought up. She knew they had unresolved issues but they had nothing to do with her, she decided a long time ago that it wasn't her place to get involved but hopped secretly and desperately that one day things would change.

"Do you want to go back to the room, it's getting a little dark?" Tsukiko asked as they began walking in circles, "Gai-sensei and Lee might have returned by now and I am a little curious about what the Kazekage summoned us for,"

Neji agreed and Tsukiko guided them back, almost getting lost for a moment before realising she was fine and was going in the right direction. Back at the room Lee and Gai were back from their training and appeared to have bathed and were now relaxing in yukata. As the passed through the door Neji let go of her arm quickly,

"Ah, there you are," Gai-sensei sung as he seen them, "I was looking to talk with you all,"

"Hm?" Tsukiko questioned, sliding the door closed behind her as she slowly followed Neji inside.

When they were all situated sitting near the table Gai-sensei looked around at them seriously,

"In a few month from now the bi-annual Chunin Exams will be held in Kusagakure," Gai-sesnei explained, "As your genin commander I can nominate you all as a team to participate in the exams. I have watched all three of you grow in these past few months, faster than I would have expected. And this past mission only confirmed it for me, I think all of you are ready to sit the exam."

"To be promoted to chunin?" Lee questioned, tilting his head,

"If you pass, yes," Gai confirmed, "Your decision has to be a unanimous one as a team if you want to do it. I don't need answers tonight, so there is no rush for a decision. I want you all to think hard about it and about if you feel you personally are ready for such a big step forward."

* * *

Tsukiko sat outside the open widow on the roof of where they were staying, the air had grown cold now that the sun had completely set but she paid no mind to it.

' _Promotion to chunin, huh?_ '.

Tsukiko didn't know what to make of the idea. If she had been asked before yesterday she may have answered yes without hesitation, but after what happened with Hori she had doubts about her own abilities. Since entering the Academy Tsukiko had always been told she was a genius and was extremely talent, who will grow to achieve great things, but yet she felt like nothing more than a weak child. She had almost died fighting Hori and she had almost let Neji die as well, was someone like that good enough to become chunin? She thought about Lee and Neji and the answer they would give, would they be mad with her if she said she didn't want to do it?

She sighed heavily knowing that no matter how long she thought about it her feelings wouldn't change, _'I want to protect them. But I am not strong enough to do that yet.'_

The wind was picking up and Tsukiko grew cold. The sand was being carried in the wind and was whipping against her face and she decided to go back inside. As she stood up she froze, an instinctual fear coming over her,

 _'I've felt this before... This... Killing intent...'_

The sand whipped around her but the wind didn't change direction, it was moving on its own. She couldn't move due to the paralysis of the killing intent and she wrapped a hand around her own wrist and squeezed it tight, digging her nails in, so the pain would ground her back to reality.

 _'This is stronger than then...'_

Tsukiko remained where she stood after breaking the fear as a figure appeared from the shadows of the roof across from her, sand danced around his feet pouring from a gourd on his back. In a second Gai-sensei and Lee were though the window by her, the killing intent strong enough to draw their attention from inside,

"I seen him after the fight with Hori, he was part of the three man Suna-nin team sent to capture or kill him after the first team failed," Tsukiko told them in a quiet voice,

"Why is he here now then?" Lee questioned, "When we were summoned to the Kazekage this morning everything was fine between us and Suna,"

"I don't think he is here on orders. It would risk breaking the alliance between our villages if they were to attack us," Gai narrowed his eyes in the direction of the stranger, he raised his voice to the stranger, "But you know this already, don't you?"

The sand encircling Tsukiko began to slow and withdraw, whoever he was he knew he was out numbered, and he backed away a few steps before jumping down from the roof to the street below. Tsukiko followed him across the roof but when she looked down at the street there was no sign of him or the sand he controlled.

 _'Why did he come here?'_

Back inside Neji questioned what happened, feeling uneasy and vulnerable being unable to see. And Tsukiko questioned to herself the same thing as she sat down at the table. Konoha and Suna were allies so why would one of their ninja want to kill them so badly? Was he angry about what happened with Hori? Were they friends? Did he want revenge?

Whatever he wanted Tsukiko hoped not to cross paths with him again before leaving Suna the next day.

"Sensei?" Tsukiko called his attention as she sat down at the table, "I know you said there was no rush to make a decision about the Chunin Exams, but even if I think about it for weeks I don't think it's going to change anything,"

She caught the attention of all the members of her team when she said this and they all turned to look at her waiting for her to press on,

"I don't want to do it," She took a breath, but spoke without hesitation, "Before this mission my answer would have been different but now I know I am not ready,"

"Why?" Gai-sensei asked, not simply out of curiosity but a need to understand the thought she put into her answer,

"You seen why," Tsukiko told him slowly, "Hori... That is what I am capable of when I panic. All the other students at the Academy were scared of me and my kekkei genkai and for the first time it scared me too. I don't want to use this ability for destruction like that again."

"Being a ninja means-"

"I know, I want to protect the people I care about and if that means killing then... Yes, I am ready for that," She cut him off unapologetically, "But I don't want to have to rely on taking a life to achieve that. I had no other option and I don't regret what happened to Hori, but I want to become stronger so that if the situation arises again I have other options. I wont ask you to wait too long, only a year, and by then I will be strong enough for that,"

"I want to wait too," Neji agreed in a low voice, quiet, "I wasn't able to do anything in that fight and at this current level of strength I didn't stand a chance against Hori. I want to keep training for another year so that when we do sit the exam we are the strongest team there,"

Gai-sensei nodded hearing their words and he turned to his last student, "Lee?"

"I agree" Lee affirmed, "I am not a genius like Neji or Tsukiko with powerful abilities and skills. I have learnt so much from Sensei but there is still so much more I need to learn. But with a little time and hard work I will surpass natural talent! So when we sit the exam I will be able to stand on equal footing with any ninja I face, even if it is either of them,"

"When we finally do sit the exam," Tsukiko smiled a small sly smile, "I will not let you win that easily,"

"Neither will I," Neji smirked,

"The passion of youth!" Gai exclaimed, tears streaming down his face, "We will train hard as a team and grow stronger!"

"Yes, Sensei!" Lee exclaimed back jumping to his feet and vowing to begin more intense training immediately and he began doing push ups and Gai joined him to encourage him.

Tsukiko raised an eyebrow at them. She had been a little worried that her team mates would have wanted to enter the Chunin Exams straight away but was pleased they all felt the same about it. Though she didn't quiet have the same motivation Lee and Gai-sensei had to get stronger right at that moment. For her it was still like a holiday and she had no intention of training, only of relaxing and treating herself to the ohagi she bought earlier from the market. She brought enough to share with her team and both Gai-sensei and Lee thanked her and said they would eat some after they finished 100 more push ups. Neji declined at first but Tsukiko quickly realised it was because it would mean struggling using chopsticks again,

"They are really good," She told him cheerfully after trying one herself, "Just try it"

She picked up one and held it out for him bobbing it up an down. Reluctantly he gave into her pestering and leaned forward,

"It... Is okay" He admitted after swallowing, face slightly pink and Tsukiko laughed,

"Hmmmmm...?" A combined questioning sound came from Gai-sensei and Lee when Tsukiko turned to look at them they had both halted their push ups and looked between Neji, her and the chopsticks in her hand, thick eyebrows raised in questioning,

Tsukiko blinked back at them in confusion before looking down at the chopsticks,

"Oh!" She blurted holding them out away from her, her own face heating up, "Oh no, these were mine!"

"Wh- what?" Neji questioned, the pink in his face darkening, "Why... why didn't you use another pair?"

"No... I don't mean to... I just..." Tsukiko trailed off embarrassed,

Gai-sensei and Lee laughed at Neji and Tsukiko's equally awkward embarrassment, as Neji turned away to hide his face and Tsukiko got new chopsticks and squished a whole ohagi in her mouth so she didn't need to talk anymore.

 _'An... Indirect kiss...'_

* * *

 **NEXT TIME-**  
CHAPTER 6: _"Like a beast hunting its prey"_

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

Just a quick definition of terms for anyone that was confused and too lazy to look them up on wikipedia:

* Ryokan- Is a traditional Japanese style inn where guests are able to spend their whole stay wearing yukata and are known to be really relaxing  
* Onsen- A natural hot spring they are really common at Ryoukan  
* Ohagi- An autumn season desert made from glutinous rice and sweet red bean paste  
* Also if you are confused about the significance of the end and have never watched or read a shoujo where a scene like that occurred just look up 'indirect kiss' and you will understand ;D

So this marks the end of the Introductory Arc. Next chapter will begin a new story arc - how exciting right, we are making progress! I really wanted to end this arch on a cute fluffy note and give you all a breather from the last chapter which was a little intense. I do quite like to write intense chapters like that last one, and I like to get descriptive with horror scenes too so be prepared for that again in the future - I will always begin the chapter with a warning note like last time too just as a heads up. 'Cause I know it came very out of left wing last time as this fic has so far been mostly been really chill and not too dark.

What do ya'll think about that? Do you mind it getting a little dark like that? Or would you rather I try and keep it as light and chill as possible? It means a lot to me that you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it, so leave me comments or PM me and tell me how you feel about it. And about the pacing of the story too; is it too fast or too slow? About character development; are characters behaving in ways that fit with cannon or am I mischaracterising them? What about my OC; do you like her? Is she believable or too Mary Sue?

Basically... do you guys like it? I am really curious about that! Please let me know!

Anyway, like always thank you so much for reading, my children! It really means a lot every time it gets a new vote on wattpad or someone favorites/follows it on . This story seems to be a lot more popular on than on wattpad and i dont really know what that means, maybe it is just easier to find, who knows. But I am really grateful to you readers on both sites who take the time to read my story and especially to the ones that continue reading pass the first chapter and are reading this note right now. YES YOU! YOU ARE THE BEST. I LOVE YOU! Thank you sooo much :D


	8. CHAPTER 6: Chunin Exams Arc, Part 1

CHAPTER 6:  
"Like a beast hunting its prey"

* * *

 _One year later -_ _Tsukiko aprox. 12 years old_

Time passed in the blink of an eye for Tsukiko. The year seen her celebrate a birthday and another year living in Konoha, it seen Hinata graduate the academy and become genin, and it seen Team Gai grow stronger, more confident and unified. They had the highest success rate of any genin team in the village and were now almost exclusively assigned only C-rank missions, rather than D-rank. The Hokage also expressed that if they had a chunin member in their team then he would be inclined to give them B-ranked missions, but currently it was their official rank that prevented him from doing so and not their skill level.

Since the incident with Hori Tsukiko had focused her training on using her abilities as a shield and as a form of defence for her team. With Neji, Lee and Gai-sensei all being close range combatants she had also focused on being ranged support for them and increasing the number of bones she could manipulate at one time. She knew Neji was learning abilities of his clan alone, and had been mastering techniques that were only to be taught to the main family. Gai-sensei had also gone beyond his role as Lee's teacher and had begun to teach him secret techniques and forbidden abilities. All three of them were looking to become stronger and were willing to do whatever they needed to.

So, when the time came that their sensei asked again if they wanted to sit the Chunin Exams, all 3 of them were ready and accepted without hesitation.

"I hear they are letting in rookie teams this year too," Lee questioned aloud as they took a break at the end of their training for the day, "Even newer than we were the first time we were asked to participate,"

"Yeah, Hina-chan's team is one of them," Tsukiko told him, spinning around a bone knife while she sat on the grass, "And there are two other squads from her Academy class entered too,"

"One of them is a team of Kakashi's students," Gai-sensei added, "Being trained by him they will probably be a formidable team, despite being inexperienced,"

"Sounds interesting," Neji smirked, "But I think we can handle them,"

"What about teams from out of the village?" Tsukiko questioned,

"They should have all arrived by now," Gai told them, "And I would suggest not drawing attention to yourselves before the exams. Analyse their strength first before revealing you own."

Before the meeting ended Gai-sensei gave them each a slip of paper and told them to sign it and return it to room 301 at the Academy by 4pm the next day and they were all free to go. They planned to meet at the Academy building at 3 o'clock to be early for handing in their slips and both Neji and Tsukiko got up to leave. Like usual Lee chose to stay with Gai-sensei to continue training but just before they left he stopped them,

"I didn't just enter this exam for the promotion," His eyes were set and determined, "My goal is to stand on equal footing with any ninja, even the strongest, using only taijutsu. And that includes both of you. This exam will be a test of just how close I have come to achieving that goal and so if the time comes for me to fight against you... I wont hold back!"

Neji huffed a small laugh, "You have never been able to defeat me before. But if during the exams you try, I wont hold back either,"

"Ah, but I have," Tsukiko smirked at Neji's comment, "I also want to know how much stronger I've gotten and the only way to find out is to test myself against the strongest opponents. I will fight with everything I have against either of you,"

All three of them spoke with the same determination and desire to prove themselves. They were comrades and friends, but at the same time they were rivals and they all wanted to be stronger.

Tsukiko couldn't ask for better team mates.

* * *

As she walked back to the Hyuuga compound she thought about the other opponents she would come up against during the exam. The thought that there would be other ninja of their age there who were stronger than her team was a scary but exciting thought. She wanted to face the strongest opponents she could, and that included both Neji and Lee. Neji was a genius, a prodigy, with very rare talent. Gai and Hiashi had both confirmed to her that he was probably the strongest Konoha genin and would one day surpass all other Hyuuga members, even those of the main family. And Lee wasn't to be underestimated either. Despite his incompetence in ninjutsu and the fact that he had never won a fight against either Tsukiko or Neji, his hard work and dedication made him a master at taijutsu. His speed was the greatest of all of them and Gai-sensei had gone above and beyond in teaching him forbidden techniques - though she wasn't sure Neji knew that he had been taught them.

Tsukiko desired to face them both. She wanted to know where she stood against them and the prospect of it excited her.

Nearing home, the muffled sound of raised voices caught her attention and Tsukiko glanced down a side street as she passed by to see that a fight was about to break out. A boy in a strange hood with cat-like ears intimidated a younger boy and had him caught around the neck by the collar of his clothes. The older boy's hood bore a metal forehead protector engraved with the Sunagakure symbol and Tsukiko knew they must have been in the village for the Chunin Exams. There was a small crowd of other genin and even Academy students there watching but nothing was being done to physically help the boy, only a lot of yelling it seemed.

Catching them all off guard a rock flew down from a tree and caught the Suna nin in the arm, forcing him to drop the young boy. It was the first time any of them, including Tsukiko, noticed the boy sitting casually in the tree and the branches and leaves obscured him from her vision but it was still obvious someone was up there. She hadn't sensed him there at all, though she really was too far away to get a good read on the situation. Her curiosity nagged at her to get a closer look.

Gai-sensei's advice came back to her about not drawing attention before the exams.

But in the end Tsukiko's curiosity won out over her sensei's advice and she detoured down the side street. Hiding herself on the roof of a building opposite them Tsukiko drew closer slowly to get a better look. None of the Konoha genin on the ground seemed particularly strong. A blonde boy in particular, who was the source of the muffled yelling she could hear, seemed to her to be the weakest there and also the most annoying. The person in the tree on the other hand, a dark haired boy with cold eyes and a smug smile, interested her slightly more. He had been hidden in plain sight and no one noticed him until he attacked with the rock.

 _'Was he good at hiding his presence or were they all really that weak?'_

The hooded boy seemed prepared to fight him and took off from his back something bandaged up and began unravelling it. Tsukiko's interest was piqued. She wanted to see them fight so she knew what to expect from them during the exam.

"Kankuro, stop it!" A deep, gravelly voiced warned and everyone froze.

From behind the dark haired boy in the tree a shadow appeared at the branch above him, frightening them all.

But particularly the two Sunagakure ninja.

From where Tsukiko hid along the roof edge she couldn't see the person but something about their presence seemed familiar to her.

"Listen, they started it and-" The one he called Kankuro began, no longer unravelling the strange thing he carried,

"Shut up..." The voice from the shadow cut him off, threatening and dark, "Or I'll kill you..."

An apology came quickly after and Tsukiko was shocked to hear such words shared between comrades. She moved herself to a position to get a better view and the shadow in the tree vanished and a swirl of sand appeared on the ground beside the other two Suna-nin and a boy, carrying a large gourde, appeared from the sand.

Now that he was exposed on the ground and Tsukiko could finally see him she remembered immediately why the presence seemed familiar.

It had been over a year since they had crossed paths in Sunagakure but she remembered it all vividly. The boy with the gourde was the same person who had been sent after Hori and then later came to kill her in the evening as she sat upon the roof.

 _'Why is he here now? He can't be a genin... can he? That mission to eliminate Hori would have been at least B-rank...'_

"We didn't come here to play around," He warned his team and turned to leave. He took a few steps but then paused again his eye trailing over the roof top where Tsukiko watched from, he narrowed his eyes but kept walking, "Let's go,"

Tsukiko's emotions got the better of her and she moved out from where she hid and glided down the slope of the roof in a low crouch. She stopped at the edge and sat with her legs dangling over the edge,

"But it's only just gotten fun," Tsukiko called after him and he turned around, having expected her to show herself finally.

As he finally laid eyes on her they widened and he grew angry, recognising her immediately, "You-"

"Oh, you remember me, huh?" She cut him off, "It's been a while, so I wasn't sure you would,"

She jumped down off the roof to the ground and passed by the Konoha nin moving towards him, as she grew closer his killing intent rose to the point that everyone around them became paralysed in fear. But Tsukiko had felt it before and she was expecting it. She was able to push the fear away through the pain of digging her nails into the palm of her hand - something she learnt from Gai-sensei.

"Why did you come to kill me back then?" She pressed on, finally asking the question that had been playing on her mind for the past year, "Our teams were allies-"

"You stole my prey..." He growled over her,

Tsukiko wanted more substantial answers, "Because I got to him first? That's why you want to kill me?"

"He was mine to kill! I will kill all who get between me and my prey..."

Sand slowly spilled from the gourde on his back and swirled around him, pooling at his feet. Tsukiko began extending the bone from her wrist as his first strike came for her and she dodged it as fast as she could as she fired the bone from her wrist towards him. More sand quickly came to block it but the bone was denser than the sand and it became imbedded into it. The Konoha boy from the tree jumped down beside her with a kunai drawn, having also broken the paralysis of the killing intent.

"Wa-wait-" The Suna kunoichi began, her voice slightly shaking and she stared wide eyed at Tsukiko,

"If your cross paths during the exam you can kill her then, but for now let it go," Kankuro cautioned, obviously rattled about the fight continuing, "You said yourself we aren't here to play around,"

He paid no attention and his eyes stayed trained on Tsukiko, ignoring the ninja beside her.

 _'So the reason he wants me dead is because I killed Hori before he could? He wanted to kill him?'_. The decision Tsukiko made to take his life was not one she had made lightly - it was a necessity. But this boy who stood before her had made the decision to hunt and kill him so easily, like a beast hunting its prey.

"Let's go, we can settle this later" The Suna kunoichi insisted again,

After his teams cautioning he seemed to concede, the sand retracted and the killing intent he was emitting faded slightly.

"Hey, wait! You with the gourde," The Konoha boy called to stop him as he turned his back and began to walk away, "What is your name?"

"...Gaara of the Desert" He replied after a small hesitation and turned his head to look at him, "I'm also interested in your name?"

He smirked, not expecting the returned question, "It's Sasuke Uchiha,"

Tsukiko looked between them. Both Gaara and Sasuke seemed to be strong opponents. Gaaras sand was fast, almost instantaneous in blocking her attack and she wondered if she would breach it with her bones if they were to fight seriously. He also wanted her dead and that made him even more dangerous. And Sasuke had without hesitation joined her fight against Gaara, which meant he was probably confident in his own skills. His choice to intervene was most likely out of village loyalty and probably his own arrogance. She guessed he would probably be a decent ally, but that same loyalty wouldn't apply in the exams and she instead had to think about what sort of opponent he would be. It seemed there was going to be some interesting competition during the Exams, and for Tsukiko it only made her that much more excited.

"And you?" Gaara's deep voice cut across her thoughts and he turned around completely to face her properly, "Who are you?"

"Tsukiko," She answered him cautiously, she had definitely gone against Gai-sensei's advice and drawn attention to herself, "Tsukiko Kaguya,"

"You will make the most interesting prey," Gaara mused, more to himself than to her and a second later all three Sunagakure ninja vanished.

"HUH!?" An incredulous voice whined from behind Tsukiko and she knew without turning around that it was the loud blond kid again, "What about my name, huh?"

"Not interested," Tsukiko couldn't keep the irritation from her voice as she shook her head and turned back to the main street the had detoured from.

Although she was concerned by the fact that Gaara, the person who had tried to kill her in Suna, was now in Konoha and seemed interesting in completing what he had previously failed there was also another feeling nagging at her. An almost electric agitation that she couldn't shake, a sort of excitement, that made her whole body tingle.

 _'This is starting to get more interesting'_

* * *

 **NEXT TIME-**  
CHAPTER 7: _"I trust them. Without any doubt, I trust them"_


	9. CHAPTER 7: Chunin Exams Arc, Part 2

CHAPTER 7:  
"I trust them. Without any doubt, I trust them."

* * *

The next day Tsukiko was running late and it was almost 3:30pm by the time she arrived at the Academy building. Lee and Neji were not waiting out the front like they had agreed and she could only guess that they had gone ahead without her. It was surprisingly packed and there were genin loitering everywhere outside and in the corridors. As she made it up the stairs she spotted Neji through the thick of the crowd and he frowned at her as he seen her approaching,

"Ah, I'm really sorry-" Tsukiko began, quickly trying to apologise before he could scold her for being late,

"It's fine" He stopped her, "Don't worry about it,"

"Then... What's with that look?" She asked, he seemed annoyed about something, and was scowling more than usual, "Did something happen?"

"Our plan of lying low and not drawing attention is gone," He told her with a sigh, "There was a genjutsu on the second level and we were waiting for you to arrive to go around it up to the third floor but Lee got into a fight with a guy from another Konoha team-"

"What?! 'A guy'? Which guy? And where is Lee now?" Tsukiko questioned rapidly, furrowing her brows, _'Why is Lee starting fights like that? That's not like him'_

"Sasuke of the Uchiha clan. And last I seen Lee was crying with Gai-sensei so I avoided going to them," He explained and began leading the way towards the room and Tsukiko couldn't help but laugh

"Ha, what an idiot! So how did he fair? Didn't get too badly hurt?"

"Hurt? No, of course not," Neji scoffed, "He won. I thought that Uchiha would have been a greater opponent, but if Lee won then I guess I overestimated the power of the Sharingan."

"Lee won?" Tsukiko questioned surprised, maybe she too had overestimated Sasuke yesterday, or maybe she had been underestimating Lee, "I met Sasuke Uchiha yesterday and he didn't seem like the type to loose so easily,"

As they walked towards to room Tsukiko told him everything that happened with Gaara the previous day and mid way though they met up with Lee on the way and she was forced to begin her story all over again. They both seemed to share her concern about Gaara and they all agreed that they should avoid him until they know more about how strong he is. Entering the room Tsukiko was surprised at just how many people were there and she silently marvelled at the scale of the exams. _'Just another thing I happened to underestimate'_. It was surprisingly quiet in the room too for having so many people and there was a nervous tension in the air. She commented on it as they passed further in and had a closer look at the individual people around her. Across the room she spotted the Sunagakure team and a few teams of ex-classmates of theirs.

Despite the tension in the air Tsukiko still felt excited, she wasn't nervous in the slightest. She looked around specifically focusing on seeing Hinata and although it took a little while eventually she spotted her standing with a larger group of Konoha ninja. As she made her way over Neji noticed who she was going to go see and chose to stay where he was with Lee and as Tsukiko left she told them she would be back quickly. Hinata spotted her too and carefully moved around her group to talk to her,

"Tsuki-neechan!" Hinta greeted with a smile when they were close enough,

"Hina-chan, how are you doing?" She asked, though she had asked her that question this morning at home and already instinctively knowing that she was feeling nervous and scared,

"Ah... a little nervous, " She confessed quietly, confirming what Tsukiko already knew, "There are a lot of strong ninja here, isn't there"

"Yeah, there are," Tsukiko wasn't going to lie to her, "But you will be fine, just do your best, okay?"

"I will" Hinata smiled bravely, "You too, Nee-chan"

"Always!" She agreed and smiled back at her sister.

Tsukiko was pleased to be able to participate in the same exams as Hinata, but she was at the same time a little concerned for her safety. With people like Gaara, Sasuke and Neji participating in the exam she was worried about what would happen if Hinata were to end up in combat with any of them. Tsukiko knew that if she herself was paired against Hinata she would simply withdraw from the competition, but if it was someone else she didn't know what would happen. Though she also knew her sisters abilities and she wasn't exactly weak, she knew Hinata could hold her own in a fight, but it still didn't stop her from worrying about her.

 _'If I have the chance I am going to protect you no matter what, Hina-chan!'_

"...So those two are in the same team? To have two top ranked Academy students in the same genin team is unheard of,"

Hinata turned around as they both overheard the blond ninja Tsukiko met the other day talking, his loud voice carrying in the tense silence of the room

"It usually is, but she was a special case. But it isn't Lee who was the other top ranked student, is the other member, Neji Hyuuga. They are believed to be the strongest Konoha genin," A grey haired ninja explained confidently to the group of Konoha ninja Hinata was with, "Even including veteran genin squads they are strong and have the highest mission success rate. Lee is really the weakest member of that team statistically,"

"I faced Lee and he wasn't weak, just how strong are the other two members?" Sasuke asked handing a small card back to the grey haired ninja, and Tsukiko could see two other cards pulled out; one of her and one of Gaara.

Tsukiki chimed in unapologetically, "Well, there's really only one way to find out,"

Sasuke turned to her, surprised that she was there and overheard him talking, he narrowed his eyes at her cautiously,

"Nee-chan, I dont-" Hinata began,

"It's okay. I'm flattered really that you've taken such an interest in my team," Tsukiko laughed softly, "I hope we get the chance to find out just how accurate those cards are,"

"I don't actually have a lot of information on you, Tsukiko," The grey haired ninja pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and looked at her questioningly, "Rumors and speculation mainly,"

"Seeing as I don't even know your name, I guess you are still one up on me," She raised her eyebrows, questioning him in return,

"Kabuto," He told her simply with a smirk that made her feel like she should already know his name,

 _'Have we met before?'_

"Can you tell me about your clan's kekkei genkai? It's very rare." He pressed on, teasing in his voice,

"No," She smirked back, "Can you tell me about your own abilities?"

"Sorry, no I can't,"

Tsukiko shrugged, expecting him to give the same answer. He knew about her kekkei genkai which gave him an advantage over her as she had never seen or heard of him before. The fact he was a Konoha ninja also didn't mean a lot. During the exam she knew village alliance wouldn't mean anything and she suspected a time would come that even her own alliance to her team mates wouldn't mean anything.

"I should return to my team," Tsukiko turned back to Hinata, placing a hand on her shoulder with her back to the rest of the group she lowered her voice so only Hinata could hear, "If you come across that Suna nin with the gourde, or his team, run away and don't try to confront them, okay?"

"Tsuki-"

"Just trust me. He isn't the sort of opponent you want to face," Hinata looked scared hearing her warning but Tsukiko smiled to ease her worries, "Good luck, Hina-chan! You'll do great!"

"Okay. Good luck!" Hinata smiled back through her nerves,

Tsukiko patted her sister gently on the shoulder and passed by her to make her way back through the crowd to where Neji and Lee were waiting.

"Why do you ask everyone else's name except mine!" Tsukiko heard the obnoxious blond ninja yell after her, "Hinata even has a nickname, this is so unfair!"

"Still not interested," She called without turning back,

"WELL, MY NAME IS NARUTO UZUMAKI AND I WONT LOOSE TO ANY OF YOU BASTARDS!" His voice carried across the whole room and echoed back a murderous silence, "YOU GOT THAT?!"

Tsukiko finally turned back, her eyebrows raised in alarm. _'What's with this guy? And why do I feel like I have heard his name before.'._ Seeing all the angry looks Naruto was getting from every other genin in the room Tsukiko continued to move away through the crowd as to not be associated with him. Neji and Lee both raised their eyebrows at her as she returned to them, questioning why she was just with the idiot who had made a fool of himself in front of everyone.

Naruto smiled to himself, satisfied with his declaration and seemingly oblivious to the mass number of enemies he had just made himself,

"He's very... Spirited," Neji scoffed, "Lee, you didn't beat him up enough"

"He's something all right," Tsukiko shook her head as she came to a stop by her team. Other people started murmuring about him as well behind her and Tsukiko only sighed. Her team had at least somewhat tried to keep a low profile, but that idiot was surely out to get himself killed.

With her back to the commotion Tsukiko almost completely missed the attack made on Kabuto by a Sound nin team. She spun around just as a guy, _'why is he dressed like a hedgehog_ ', dashed forward to punch Kabuto. From where Tsukiko stood it looked to be that he dodged the attack, but a second later a lens of his glasses smashed and he doubled over on the ground. Silently she questioned Neji if he seen what happened but he shook his head,

"It was quick but... Lee, did you see anything?"

"There must have been some trick" Lee shook his head.

"Quiet, everyone!" A deep voice bellowed as a large cloud of smoke appeared behind Tsukiko at the front of the room. She turned around quickly and as the smoke began clearing a large group of jonin emerged. The man in the middle of the group had the largest presence among them and Tsukiko gathered that he was the one to speak. He had two scars across his face and a stern expression and Tsukiko couldn't help but feel intimidated by him.

 _'Who is he? Is this the exam starting?'_

"Thanks for waiting," The man spoke again, his voice loud, clear and authoritative, "I am Ibiki Morino, and I will be the examiner for the first test of the Chunin Exams..."

* * *

The rules of the first exam were explained after all the genin participants were arranged in a seating plan. Tsukiko was seated between two other Konoha ninja; a boy with spikey black hair tied back in a high pony tail and another boy with a small white dog - she believed he was in Hinata's genin team. Lee was seated a few rows in front of her and both Neji and Hinata were on the far side of the room with Neji right near the back where she was unable to see him.

"The exam will last one hour," Ibiki told them from his position at the front of the room, "Begin!"

Tsukiko wasted no time and turned her exam sheet over and examined the questions on the page. She looked over the first few questions before answering any and only blinked in confusion at the exam. _'This is an impossible level for genin_ '. The questions were far above anything they would have needed to know as genin and many of the questions she herself didn't know how to answer. She glanced over to the lines of examiners who sat at the edge of the room watching them like hawks and her brain ticked over the instructions they were given at the beginning of the exam because something didn't quite add up for her. They had stressed so much about cheating at the beginning, yet allowed them to be caught doing it 4 times before being kicked out. She guessed if it really was such a big offense then they would kick you out right away if you were caught. But yet the rule was as it was. _'Do they want us to try and cheat_?'. That would mean the instructions were not that you shouldn't cheat, but that you shouldn't _get caught_ cheating.

 _'So that's how it is... They are testing how well we gather information'_.

Tsukiko was able to answer half of the questions on her own without the need for cheating. She had learnt a lot from the books she had collected and read over the years and she was glad that theoretical information was finally coming in handy. But after 15 minutes she still had another 4 questions left and the suspicious 10th question remaining. She knew Neji and Lee would not know the answers to any of the questions and she wondered what they were going to do. Neji had his Byakugan and would be able to use that to read the movements of the people around him to get the answers but Lee, who sat a few rows a head of her, would not have such an easy job.

As well as worrying about Lee, Tsukiko still wasn't sure how she was going to get the last 4 answers either. Her abilities weren't particularly suited to secrecy or spying and already people around her were being expelled from the exam for being caught too many times which only made her more hesitant.

 _'I can at least help Lee out with the answers I already have, though, right?'_

Tsukiko casually overlapped her hands on the table top, the thumb of her right hand tucked under her left palm. She extended a bone from her fingers out underneath her hand on the table so it couldn't be seen by the examiners, and then using an extended bone from her thumb she silently etched the answers into the links of finger bones. It was a slow process as she tried to keep the sounds of carving to a minimal but when she was done Tsukiko was able to stretched the bone with the answers on it under the tables and along the floor to Lee, keeping the bone length as thin as she could in the middle so that it would be near invisible if one of the examiners happened to look at the ground around their feet where it was. Lee kept his eyes on his own paper and only used feel to read the characters and numbers etched into the bones to keep from drawing attention to it. When he was done he indicated to her by adjusting his forehead protector, which he wore over his forehead for the exam. As she retracted the bone instantly she found he had tied a five small strings of dark green thread to the end. Thinking it meant to look at question 5 Tsukiko recalculated her answer but only found that her original answer was right

 _'Lee? What are you trying to tell me'_

Her brows furrowed as she grew frustrated with not knowing what the threads meant. They were running out of time for the final question and Tsukiko could only have faith that Neji was able to answer all the questions correctly to increase their team score more. A few minutes passed and Lee again adjusted his forehead protector, smoothing three fingers over fabric band and tightening the knot and Tsukiko finally caught on to the significance of his actions.

He was indicating to the third question - a question she hadn't been able to answer.

She read over the question again and quickly figured out that the 5 thread were the key to answering the question. _'Well done, Lee!_ '. That made their two scores 6 out of 9 so far with only a few more minutes to go until the 10th question was revealed. Tsukiko knew everything now relied on how they answered that final question and all she had to so was wait. It felt like the longest 6 minutes Tsukiko had ever experienced and all the nervousness she hadn't felt before the start of the exam were starting to make an appearance.

"Okay!" Ibiki called their attention from the front of the room, "We will now begin the 10th question"

Tsukiko's heart skipped a beat and she exhaled slowly to calm herself. _'We can do this!'._

"I'll explain the extra rules for this question; the Rules of Desperation," Ibiki continued and the tension in the room rose, "First you must decide whether or not you want to take it. If you decide not to your test scores will be reduced to zero, as well as your team mates, and you will fail the test"

"What?! Then of course we will take the exam!" A student called from the near the end of Lee's row, "What sort of rule is that?!"

"And the second rule," Ibiki continued, ignoring the outburst, "If you choose to take it and answer it incorrectly you will also fail and lose the right to take the Chunin Exams ever again"

Outbursts rose from all over the room after hearing this second rule and the boy from beside Tsukiko, the one she believed was on Hinata's squad, stood up abruptly,

"That's not fair!" He yelled indignantly, "There are guys here who have taken the exam before!"

"You guys are unlucky. This year it's my rules" Ibiki darkened, "But you have a way out. You can decide now that you don't want to take it and fail the test, but have the opportunity to try again in the future. Make your decisions now and raise your hand if you wish to leave"

A heavy silence fell as all the genin in the room were left to decide what they wanted to do. It took a little while for the first person to stand and raise their hand and after they did more people became less embarrassed about their cowardice and also chose to bow out. Tsukiko had confidence in her own skill, whatever the question was she believed she could do it. From in front of her Tsukiko watched Lee to see what he would do, but he sat relaxed and without tension and she could tell from his demeanour that he also had no doubts. Without needing to turn around she knew Neji was going to feel the same, he was too proud to quit now.

 _'I trust them. Without any doubt, I trust them. There is no need to hesitate and falter now.'_

Tsukiko smiled to herself, realising that the last two years of training and missions together had created the instinctual understanding she had on how they would respond. They were ready for this, and they wouldn't back down from any challenge.

"DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME! I WILL NOT RUN" Naruto's voice again carried across the silence of the room and Tsukiko pulled a face as she looked over to him as he sat beside Hinata on the other side of the room, "EVEN IF I'M A GENIN FOREVER IT DOESN'T MATTER BECAUSE I WILL BECOME HOKAGE! I'M NOT AFRAID!"

"Your life is riding on this decision and this is your last chance to quit," Ibiki questioned him sternly, lowering his head

Naruto smirked, "I never go back on my word. That is my ninja way"

There was a pause as Ibiki appraised the boy, he seemed amused.

"Then, to the 78 of you still remaining... I congratulate you on passing the first test!"

' _Huh?'_

Ibiki smiled brightly from the front of the room, it was a complete change from the intimidating and dark personality he had only a moment ago,

"What do you mean we already pass?" A pink haired Konoha kunoichi asked slowly, "What about the 10th question?"

"The choice to take the 10th question was actually the 10th question" He explained, his voice lighter and more cheerful.

Ibiki explained the purpose of the exam and confirmed Tsukiko's suspicion that the exam was an exercise on information gathering. To explain the importance Ibiki removed the bandana his forehead protector was fasten to from his head and revealed beneath it his disfigured and scarred scalp. It was obvious they were the scars made due to being tortured and Tsukiko couldn't help but wonder how much further those scars ran. Tying the bandana back on Ibiki went on to explain the purpose of the last question as being the true purpose of the whole first test. He explained that it was a test of courage and a test of will power designed to weed out the weak who were unable to make the hard decisions that needed to be made by chunin captains.

"You who answered the 10th question correctly will be able to survive and make the hard decisions" Ibiki praised them, "You have made it through the first test of the Chunin Exams and it is now over. I wish you guys luck for the next challenges-"

A swirl of black fabric and commotion broke through the window and cut Ibiki off, he smirked to himself and seemed unfazed by the interruption,

"This is no time to be celebrating!" A woman barked as the fabric formed into a banner pinned up behind her, "I am the examiner for the second test, Anko Mitarashi!"

Anko took in the room and the students who were left behind, "There is still 26 teams, Ibiki?"

"What can I say, there are a lot of good teams this time around" He shrugged

"Well, I'll at least cut that in half during the second exam," She smiled wickedly, her eyes darkening, "Let's go, you brats, and I'll explain the rules of the second test when we get there."

* * *

 **NEXT TIME -**  
CHAPTER 8: _"That person..."_


	10. CHAPTER 8: Chunin Exams Arc, Part 3

CHAPTER 8:  
"That person..."

* * *

The Forest of Death. That was the location where Anko took them for the second test. The sight of it and the agreement forms they were given to sign were enough to answer Tsukiko's unasked question about why it was called that. It seemed the second test was quite a step up from the first which only set out to test their mental skills and posed no physical danger. This is what she had expected though, a test of survival and again a test of information gathering. Her confidence from the previous exam had not faltered and she still had no doubts that her team was going to be fine.

After handing in their agreement forms they were given a heaven scroll which Lee carried for the time being and they were escorted to gate number 44.

"So what's the plan of attack?" Lee asked, wasting no time to begin strategizing before entering the forest and starting the exam,

"I think we have two options," Tsukiko theorized speaking as she still formed the plan in her head, "We either strike first and get in and out as quickly as we can while everyone is still unprepared,"

"Or we gather our bearings and collect supplies first then attack while everyone is resting... probably early tomorrow morning" Neji continued slowly, following her train of though,

"Exactly. And I think that is our better option"

"It's safer and I think the other teams will be more likely to attack straight away and weaken themselves," Lee confirmed and both Neji and Tsukiko nodded, he then pulled the scroll out from his pouch and handed it towards Tsukiko, "I think you should carry this as well,"

"Why me?" She frowned,

"You're our only ranged member and the enemy will find it harder to get close enough to take it from you"

"That's smart," Neji agreed and Lee beamed at the praise,

"It might be. But it is also expected, if we face an enemy team like ours I would say to go for the ranged member first as well," Tsukiko had her doubts about her being the one to carry the real scroll,

"Even if they know its you carrying it they still have to fight you to get it and I don't think you will let them take it that easy," Lee backed up his strategy and she couldn't help but laugh at his confidence in her, "Plus, they still have to get past the both of us to get to you as well,"

Tsukiko was more convinced after hearing Lee explain it and express his confidence in her. She looked to Neji for his input as well and he nodded in agreement with Lee's plan. She thought about it for another minute and eventually she pulled out two bones from her arm and used a transformation jutsu to make them look like the heaven scroll. She handed one to Neji and swapped the real one Lee carried for the fake one and slipped it into her pouch. She didn't need to explain her thinking with creating the decoy scrolls and her team mates followed her lead and pocketed their fake scrolls as well.

"The test is about to begin," Their escort instructed them to get ready as he turned a key to unlock the gate, he paused and didn't open it for a drawn out moment, listening for the command to open the gate.

 _'We're ready, let's do this!'_

"Now!" The escort flung open the gate and stepped out of the way for them, "The second test had begun!"

Team Gai rushed through the open gate and didn't stay around long enough to watch the escort lock the gate behind them. They quickly decided to avoid heading straight towards the tower in the middle, knowing that the other teams would beeline towards it. Their best plan was to spend the daylight gathering supplies and avoiding detection, they agreed to stay as a group and move in the shadows of the tree tops with Neji using his Byakugan to insure that there were no other teams close enough to sense their chakra. Neji admitted that a skilled sensory nin might be able to sense them from outside the radius he was looking in but it was unlikely and when they eventually came to attack them they would have to come close enough and he would see them then and they would know in advance the attack was coming to defend themselves.

They felt confident they could wait it out until the next morning - only 16 hours in from when they first entered.

"We should be able to get this done within 24 hours" Neji theorised later that night as they hid out in the tree tops and had traps placed around them to catch anyone who came to close. They knew night was going to be a dangerous time in the forest, both because of the nocturnal beasts that would wake up and because of the enemy teams who wanted to take advantage of the darkness.

"If we can't then I will run 50 laps around the village after we pass this exam!" Lee vowed loudly and Tsukiko shushed him and called him an idiot for being so loud. Despite Neji keeping a look out she still wanted to be cautious and Lee understood and apologised.

"But it doesn't sound like too difficult a goal," Tsukiko agreed in a quieter tone, "Gives us 8 hours tomorrow to find a team with an earth scroll, beat them, then get to the tower. I think we can do that."

They agreed it make it their private team goal to finish the test as quickly as possible and agreed to get what rest they could until morning and would take turns to get some quick sleep with Tsukiko taking the first watch.

* * *

The first 16 hours passed without any problems, or by being attacked by the enemy or any creatures that lurked in the forest. A few hours before sunrise they were forced to abandon their hiding spot as Neji spotted an approaching team, they made their escape before the first trap even went off and they decided to begin the second part of their plan a little early.

"We'll meet back here in half an hour, whether you find another team or not," Neji explained, using a plan similar to the one Gai-sensei had devised when hunting for Hori back in Suna, "No one attacks another team alone, got it?"

"Roger," Lee saluted,

"Be careful everyone," Tsukiko warned, standing up and tightening her forehead protector,

Neji nodded, "Alright, lets go!"

They all jumped away heading in their own directions and Tsukiko wasted no time and climbed to a higher point in the trees where she could remain out of view and still see her surroundings clearly. She jumped between trees as fast as she could moving in a straight line and she wanted to cover as much ground as possible in the short time. Almost 15 minutes of searching Tsukiko hadn't come across a single team and was both concerned and annoyed. She had her guard up to sense chakra around her but still felt nothing and there were no signs that anyone had been through there recently. Tsukiko could only hope Neji or Lee had better luck and she decided to turn back and return to their starting point.

Tsukiko continued to move swiftly back in the direction she came and as she began to descend to the lower branches something caught her attention as she fell through the air. The silver glint of a kunai caught in the corner of her eye and as it flew towards her she blocked it by extending a bone out from her shoulder to collide with it and deflect it away from her. She landed on a branch further below and skidded to a stop, poised and ready to fight the person who had thrown the kunai. She examined the space in front of her and couldn't see movement or feel any chakra.

 _'Where? Where could they have gone'_

She jumped right down to the ground and continued moving slowly in circles, each step hesitant as she tried to sense any presence nearby, but there was nothing,

 _'Was it an abandoned trap?'_

Tsukiko backed away slowly to continue back in the direction she had travelled to meet up with the rest of Team Gai, but wasn't until she was just about to turn about that she felt the presence she had been looking to sense.

Only it was right above her on a branch in the tree.

Tsukiko quickly dived out of the way as another kunai flew towards her and she dug a bone from the palm of her hand into the dirt to use her momentum to pivot her around in time to see the next attack coming for her. A giant snake lunged for her from the figure standing in the tree and she moved forward to meet it head on, extending the bone from her palm as far as she could and sharpening one edge. As she extended it as far as she could Tsukiko removed it completely and carried it in her other hand as she picked up her pace and broke into a sprint. As the snake's mouth drew close enough she slid to her knees, leaning her weight back and positioning the blade edge of the bone up in the air, tightly gripping it in one hand and using her other weakened arm to support it at the hilt. As the snake's attack glanced over her the bone caught it under the jaw and its body tore across the sharpened edge, slicing cleanly through it. As the tail of the snakes body passed over her Tsukiko lost her grip on the bone and it slipped from her hands, still stuck in the abdomen of the now dead snake that lay behind her.

Tsukiko quickly arose from kneeling on the ground and began regrowing the large bone she had just removed from her arm, her attention now trained on the person in the tree who had sent the snake after her. She began withdrawing another bone from the back of her shoulder and sharpened it into a tri-edged sword with a deadly point at the end where it tapered off,

"My, my..." A smooth voice called down to her and jumped down to the ground in front of her,

In the better lighting away from the trees shadow Tsukiko gained a better look of the person who came to attack her. He had piercing yellow eyes with a slit pupil, like a snake, and dark purple markings around them. They were distinctive and thought stuck in the back of her mind that she had stared into them before.

 _'Is he really a genin?'_

Tsukiko didn't wait for him to continue talking and she dashed forward towards him, striking the bone towards him. He easily dodged and blocked all of her attacks in close combat and as he created distance between them he began to form a hand sign. Tsukiko didn't allow him to finish it as she closed the gap between them swiftly. He smirked knowing she was still to far away to reach him and Tsukiko extended the bones of her fingers around the sword hilt and then propelled it towards him using the instant growth of her extending bones to close the last of the distance between them.

The speed of the sword coming towards him caught him off guard and he was barely able to dodge as it glanced over his shoulder and ever so slightly nicked the skin over his cheek bone. Tsukiko quickly recoiled her finger bones, hoping to catch him from behind but he now had his guard up against her and made a little more distance between them.

His tongue elongated from behind his lips and licked the blood that trickled down the side of his face. He laughed cruelly as he watched her, snake like eyes boring into her,

"Should I be offended?" He asked with a small smile playing at his lips, "Even looking me dead in the eye you attack me,"

"You attacked me first," Tsukiko narrowed her eyes, "Of course I'm going to attack back,"

"To land a cut on me too, you really have gotten stronger," He continued his face remaining cold and giving away nothing, "How I would love to possess that power. Luckily I have found someone better, though."

"What are you talking about?"

There was a pause as he seemed to evaluate her words and he narrowed his eyes at her in questioning, she had surprised him with that question. The thought that his eyes were familiar continued to nag at her,

"You know..." The man spoke again after a while, the questioning in his gaze gone and his face becoming stoic, "You use your kekkei genkai a lot differently to _that person..._ "

Tsukiko frowned at him, _'What is he talking about? Who is '_ that person _'?'_

The mans eyes widened slightly and he laughed wickedly, finally understanding something that even Tsukiko didn't know, "So that's how it is... How interesting..."

"What is interesting? Who is ' _that person_ '?" Tsukiko demanded over his laughter, her grip tightening on her sword.

"The fact that you don't know, that is what is interesting," He answered cryptically, the laughter still in his voice, "This changes things... I had a use for you but now..."

Tsukiko was believed to be the last remaining person of the Kaguya Clan and was the only one who could possibly possess the clans kekkei genkai. Even on the off chance that someone else survived the likelihood of there being two people in one generation who inherited the ability was very unlikely. It was a rare that even one person in a generation possessed it. There was no way that the person before her had met another person who wielded the same power.

"I wonder why that is?" He tilted his head to the side and appraised her, he seemed to be talking more to himself that her, "What else don't you know? What don't you remember, Tsukiko?"

The question shocked Tsukiko, almost as much as him using her first name did, and her eyes widened despite herself trying to keep calm. Tsukiko was missing all of her memories from before she arrived in the village, she had no recollection of who she knew or where she had been before Hiashi had found her in the temple. _'How could he know my name? Or that I am missing memories? Have we meet before now, or even before I came to the village?'_

"H-How do you know about me?" She stuttered, trying to be authoritative, "Who are you?"

He smiled at her darkly, there was no warmth or humour in it. He didn't answer her question and instead slowly approached her, circling around her as he did. Tsukiko didn't move, she only followed him with her eyes. At only a few metres away Tsukiko finally turned to follow his movements,

"Answer me!" She commanded, "Who the hell are you?!"

 _'He is definitely not a genin. Why is he here?'_

"I am Orochimaru. But it's not like that name means anything to you at the moment,"

In a movement far too quick for her too keep up with, he was behind her in an instant and she froze shocked by the sudden speed of his movements. She felt a painful strike to the back of her neck, just under her skull, and she fell forward to her knees because of the impact.

"But you will remember in time," He spoke slowly with a hiss, "I can't make you remember everything, only _that person_ can do that,"

Tsukiko felt him lower behind her so his mouth was at level with her ear and she tried to swing back at him with her sword but he grabbed her arm and twisted it back until she dropped it. His neck elongated towards her wrist and he sunk his teeth into her skin, piecing through her gloves. Sharp pains pulsed through her hand with every heartbeat and with the blood she could feel pumping through it. Almost in an instant after he released her she could no longer feel him behind her. She spun around as he dashed up into the shadows of the trees, but the golden yellow light of his eyes gleamed in the darkness and she knew he was still watching,

"That should keep _that person_ alive a little longer," He explained, indicating to the bite mark on her wrist, "If he lives long enough your paths will cross and he will be able to give the answers you want,"

The eyes glowing in the shadows vanished and Tsukiko called out to him but he was no longer there, or he chose to ignore her. She clutched her wrist and removed her glove to examine the area which he had bitten. In between two bleeding puncture marks a small, black, diamond shaped seal had appeared and the veins around it became raised and darker. She forcefully ran a thumb over it and found that it didn't hurt, if it wasn't for the appearance Tsukiko may have almost been convinced that none of that had actually happened. She put her glove back on to hide the mark and took a few shaking breaths to calm herself.

 _'I don't understand anything. Why is this happening?'_

She rubbed her temples and shook her head. _'No, Tsuki, you need to focus on the task at hand'_. Neji and Lee would soon be arriving at the spot they agreed to meet back at and now Tsukiko was going to be late and she knew that would worry them. Tsukiko broke out into a sprint back to her team, hoping to make it before they came to look for her. As she ran she forced herself to focus on her team and on finding the earth scroll they needed to pass the exam. Everything else she could work out on her own when her team mates weren't relying on her so much.

 _'I wont tell them about any of this. This isn't their concern and I don't want to worry them.'_

* * *

 **NEXT TIME-**  
CHAPTER 9: _"But seeing as it is you, I guess it's okay to take your scroll"_


	11. CHAPTER 9: Chunin Exams Arc, Part 4

CHAPTER 9:  
"But seeing as it is you, I guess it's okay to take your scroll"

* * *

Tsukiko arrived back at the spot to find that Neji was the only one there. His Byakugan was activated and he seemed to be expecting her return.

"What happened?" Neji questioned as she got close enough, "Did you find another team?"

"No, I didn't," Tsukiko lied calmly, though she wasn't quite sure it was a lie because it wasn't actually another team she encountered, "What about you? And is Lee not back yet?"

"Not really," Neji pulled a face as he shook his head, "No one worth going after. And no, Lee isn't back yet,"

Tsukiko frowned hearing this and looked off towards the direction Lee had headed in, though it was a silly thing to do really as Neji couldn't even see him coming yet.

"That's strange, though. He is usually pretty accurate when it comes to timing," Neji commented,

"You don't think he ran into the enemy, do you?" She couldn't keep the concern from her voice as she questioned it,

"It's unlikely" Neji shook his head, "But even if he did he would be able to hold his own for a while"

"We should go find him... Just in case..."

Neji agreed and the two followed in the direction Lee had gone in. It wasn't likely he had travelled any further than a distance it would take 15 minutes to get to, otherwise it would have taken him too long to return to them. This was the logical thought Tsukiko and Neji both came to, but after 15 minutes of travelling as fast as they could Neji was only just able to spot him near the end of his Byakugan's range. They both knew that he would only travel that far if something had caught his attention and forced him to continue going - he had definitely run into the enemy.

 _'Lee... I hope your okay...'_

Neji lead them down lower in the tree branches and eventually Tsukiko could see a clearing up ahead. She could sense a lot of chakra and guessed that it meant there was a big altercation going on. They slowed their pace and drew closer silently, masking their presence to keep from drawing attention. From Tsukiko's position in the tree she could see Sasuke's team, with both him and Naruto unconscious on the ground and the pink haired kunoichi protecting them. Lee was defeated nearby her and it seemed she had been trying to protect him as well as her team. Another Konoha team, consisting of the black haired guy she sat next to during the first test, had also come to their aid. Their opponents were a team of Sound-nin and she recognised the leader as the one who attacked Kabuto before the first test. Tsukiko continued to analyse the scene below but Neji seemed to be done with observing,

"To think," He mused in a bored tone, loud enough to catch their attention "Sound nin having to go after these second rate ninja in order to get a victory,"

They all turned to look up at Neji and their leader scowled,

"That knocked out freak down there is from our team," Neji informed them, activating his Byakugan as he did so, "And you're going to pay for that!"

"Come down and fight then!" Their leader growled up at them and Tsukiko began to move, ready to jump down to the ground but Neji held out an arm to stop her,

"Actually...No," Neji deactivated his Byakugan, "That won't be necessary,"

As soon as he said it Tsukiko began to feel the surge in chakra as Sasuke got up. Half of his body was covered in black markings and they continued to spread over his body. The chakra felt familiar to her, it was Sasukes, but with it she could sense the chakra of the mysterious snake-like man who had attacked her in the forest.

 _'What is this power?'_

The other Konoha team quickly rushed to get out of Sasuke's way and away from the fight that was about to happen between him and the Sound nin. Tsukiko again made to move forward but Neji kept his arm out to stay her and he shook his head. He wanted to know just what Sasuke was capable of, but Tsukiko was more worried than curious.

Sasuke was quick, his movements almost too fast for her to keep up with as she watched from her position up beside Neji. In a matter of a heartbeat he had defeated the first Sound ninja who attacked him and was behind him in a flash, his foot pressed against his back and his arm bent behind him. Sasuke held him like that for a drawn out moment before pushed his foot down and pulled back, snapping the ninjas arm,

"You..." He growled at the last remaining sound nin, "I hope you let me have more fun than this guy,"

He pushed the screaming Sound-nin down and began walking towards the leader,

"STOP!" The pink haired kunoichi cried, lunging towards Sasuke and hugging him from behind to keep him from going after the Sound-nin. He stopped and the markings that covered his body began to recede back disappearing beneath his clothes.

Tsukiko looked to Neji for answers. She could sense Sasuke's chakra and it was immense, but now that the markings were gone his chakra began to fade as well. Neji only focused forward on Sasuke. When she turned back away from him the Sound nin rolled their scroll towards them and began to leave,

"WAIT!" The Konoha girl yelled at them, "Who is Orochimaru and what did he do to Sasuke-kun?!"

 _'Orochimaru!?'_

"I... Don't know" Their leader explained slowly, and already began moving away, "We were only ordered to kill him. He shouldn't have that curse mark."

"What do you know about the curse mark" Tsukiko questioned him forcefully, "What is it for?"

The Sound-nin finally looked at her properly and he narrowed his eyes, "Those markings on your forehead..."

"You've seen them before?" She froze not expecting him to say that,

He didn't answer the questions and only watched her cautiously, evaluating her. Tsukiko jumped down from the tree finally and Neji followed her lead. The leader of the Sound-nin team shook his head and he seemed just as confused as she was, but something stopped him from questioning her in return or answering her questions. A small smirk spread across his lips and like he began to understand something she didn't - just as Orochimaru had also done. The Sound team continued on their way and Tsukiko allowed them to leave though she did think following them and trying to get the answers from him by force, but she knew it would be hopeless.

Tsukiko's mind was cluttered and she couldn't understand what was happening, _'Orochimaru? Just who is he? I don't understand anything'._ She unconsciously ran a hand over who wrist where her own mark was and silently feared he had done the same thing to her. But she felt fine, unlike him, so did that mean it was something else? _'Who is_ that person _they keep talking about, am I not the last member of the Kaguya Clan? Are they still alive?'_

Naruto appeared to be waking up and the other Konoha team that had hidden out of the way when Sasuke had awoken had reappeared now that the Sound team had gone. Tsukiko and Neji went over to Lee where he was being looked after by the blond haired kunoichi from the other team and Neji wasted no time shaking him awake abruptly. She was about to stop him and tell him to be less forceful but it seemed it did the job and Lee awoke with a groan and vague questioning about what had happened. Neji quickly explained what had happened before scolding him for going off on his own and not sticking to the plan.

"You're an idiot, Lee, but I'm glad your okay," Tsukiko scolded him as well, though more gently than Neji, and Lee scratched his head and laughed slightly as he apologised.

Tsukiko soon learnt the details of what happened before she and Neji arrived and was shocked to find that Lee lost so gravely to the Sound team. She also learnt the names of her Konoha allies and she thanked Sakura for looking after Lee while she was away.

Her own team still desired to complete the exam in the 24 hour window and they decided it was time to continue on with the exam, as they had wasted almost 2 of their remaining 8 hours to complete the exam. As Lee and Neji were preparing to set out again she asked them to wait another minute and she made her way over to Sasuke, who stood alone on the far side of the clearing,

"Sasuke-san, there's something I want to ask you?" She called as she approached him, "Orochimaru... What do you know about him?"

He glared at her slightly but she didn't care,

"I need to know who he is," Tsukiko pressed, "You're the only person I can ask"

"How does that concern you?" He asked defensively, furrowing his brows,

"It concerns me more than you think," She bit back loudly, and drew Sakura's attention and she came over to see what the argument was about and Tsukiko turned her questions to her, "What happened with Orochimaru? Why do you also know about him?"

Sakura seemed hesitant to answer as she glanced towards Sasuke looking uncertain. Sasuke clicked his tongue indignantly before giving in and telling her what he remembered from their fight he had with Orochimaru the previous day. Sakura was able to fill in the blanks for him when Tsukiko asked questions he couldn't answer. Tsukiko listened intently until they were done and she glanced over to her team where they waited for her so they could keep traveling. _'What interest does Orochimaru have Sasuke and me? Is it all connected somehow?'_

"Why did Dosu recognise your clan markings?" Sasuke asked finally, returning his own questions, "What connection do _you_ have to Orochimaru?"

"I honestly don't know," Tsukiko told him sincerely, which was why everything about it concerned her so much, "But until I find out I want you to keep this to yourselves. I don't want to worry anyone with this,"

"Very well," Sasuke agreed on behalf of his team, "And I expect the same in return,"

Tsukiko agreed easily and wished them luck telling them she hoped to see them again after they all passed the second test.

* * *

Traveling through the forest, heading towards the tower in the middle, Team Gai strategized their plan to get the scroll they needed to complete the exam within their personal 24 hour goal. There was a slight tension between them as both Neji and Lee had unasked questions they wanted to ask Tsukiko, but she had warned them that now wasn't the best time and she would try and explain everything after the second test was over and they had successfully passed.

They stopped about 50 metres away from the tower and they hid crouching in the shrubbery on the ground. Neji could see a few other teams who had also come to create an ambush near the tower, but they were far enough away that normal chakra sensing would not detect them,

"To ambush a team setting an ambush..." Tsukiko hummed, going over their plan one last time, "It's a little cunning don't you think?"

"And that's why they will make the perfect targets" Neji smirked, "They won't even know what hit them,"

"This is a good plan, Tsukiko" Lee encourage, though she couldn't take all the credit for it, she may have come up with the initial idea but it was a team effort.

 _'That is why our team works. We are stronger together like this.'_

The team they chose to target had laid traps along the ground just before the door heading into the tower and they hid, rather badly, in the trees behind it and were completely exposed to being attacked from behind. Neji commented that their chakra was familiar and Tsukiko had reservations about fighting against another Konoha team but Neji convinced her not to worry about it and said it would be fine,

"We have about 4 or 5 hours left," Lee confirmed for them, judging based on the position of the sun he believed it to be around 10am, "Let's not waste anymore time, we need to know if they have the right scroll we need."

"Ready when you are," Tsukiko agreed with a smile,

"Alright, let's begin Phase One," Neji was the first to stand up, "Lee, you're up first"

Lee nodded confidently and saluted to them, his eyes burning with pride to succeed, and then jumped away heading in the direction of the booby-trapped door. Neji watched as he drew closer to the door as planned and came to a stop before setting off the trap, when the team they were spying on turned their focus to Lee Neji gave Tsukiko the signal for her to get into position herself. Tsukiko nodded and wasted no time silently positioning herself almost right beneath them at the base of the tree in which they hid in and with their attention trained on Lee they did not notice her so close to them. She could hear muffled whispers from the team above her and she knew she was as close as she was going to be able to get.

After a minute of apparent bored waiting Lee pulled out the fake heaven scroll he was carrying in his pouch and examined it openly as he leaned back casually against the tower wall, throwing it in the air and catching it again,

"That's a heaven scroll!" A voice from above her whispered excitedly,

"Idiot, letting his guard down so early," Another voice laughed, "We will be taking that scroll and passing this exam,"

 _'Those voices? Could it be...?'_

Tsukiko silently signalled Lee from her hiding spot that they had the earth scroll to move in Phase Two of their plan. He nodded the smallest nod and fumbled his catch of the heaven scroll and let it bounce and roll away from him and right into the centre of the trap the other team had sent. Lee followed it and as he stepped forward into the trap ropes pulled upwards from beneath him and pulled him up off the ground wrapped up in the net. He allowed the fake heaven scroll to fall through the gaps of the net and onto the ground.

Completely unguarded and open for the taking...

Tsukiko kept her eyes upwards watching and waiting for the movement of the team above her. It took only a second and two of the three members of the team were on the move towards Lee and Tsukiko was ready for it. As they leapt down to the ground they were completely exposed with their backs to her and she extended the her index and middle finger bones on her left hand out as a whip towards them catching them both by the ankle and hanging them upside down in the air.

"Bone cocoon!" She used two more finger bones to wrap them up from the shoulder down to the knees, like bugs caught in a spider web. Seeing their faces as she immobilised them Tsukiko discovered she was correct in thinking their voices were familiar to her,

 _'Shion and Takashi... To think ninja like you made it this far? So that is what Neji meant when he said attacking another Konoha team would be fine'_

Successfully completing Phase Two, Lee was now free to release himself from the net, which he did easily with a kunai. Movement and commotion came from up above Tsukiko and she knew Neji had moved on to the Final Phase of the plan and was disabling the last member of the team - the person who was most likely carrying the earth scroll they wanted. Tsukiko moved out from her hiding spot beneath the tree base and made her way over to Lee as she laid her ex-teammates, still wrapped up in bone, on the dirt,

"Tsukiko?!" Shion exclaimed, recognising her and her kekkei genkai straight away, "It's me Shion!"

"Hmm..." Tsukiko raised her eyebrows, "Yeah, I know who you are..."

"What are you doing then?" He questioned, "We're all Konoha-nin here, shouldn't we be working together?"

"No," She answered simply, "Maybe if it was any other Konoha team. But seeing as it is you, I guess it's okay to take your scroll,"

"You bitch!" Takashi growled,

"This is why everyone refused to be in your team after we graduated the Academy,"

A huffed laugh came from behind Tsukiko and she turned to see Neji walking towards them, "Well, not everyone refused,"

He threw the darker coloured earth scroll to her to show that he had successfully won it and she smiled as she caught it with her free hand,

"How did you- ?!" Takashi began yelling but Neji cut him off with a sharp glare,

"I almost feel bad taking a scroll from such a weak team," Neji smirked, watching him through shaded eyes, "But the satisfaction of this moment is enough that I don't really care,"

"You're the weak team," Takashi spat, "That freak outsider with the creepy kekkei genkai, the talentless idiot who couldn't do even the simplest ninjutsu and the prodigy Neji, who sunk so low as to be in a team with such pathetic excuse for ninja?"

"And yet here we stand... It's almost the exact same as it was back then, don't you think?" Tsukiko tightened her bones grip around Taskashi and he cried out in pain,

She grew angry hearing him talk about her comrades in such a way and had no regrets hurting him as she did, something that had changed since the last time they met. But while she compared it to what happened last time, there was another major difference this time. She wasn't alone. Back then Tsukiko had fought them alone and was only aided by Lee and Neji after the fight had ended - but this time they were with her from the start, right by her side. Tsukiko couldn't help but agree that Neji was right, there was a sort of satisfaction in taking their scroll and proving to them that they were wrong about her.

Tsukiko had nothing to prove by squeezing the life out of Takashi, though she had the power to do so if she pleased.

She huffed a small laugh to herself,

"Actually, no, I guess it's not the same," She commented quietly, more to herself that anyone else

She released both of her ex-team mates completely and recoiled her bones back into position. Both Neji and Lee seemed surprised by her actions in freeing them when they could still fight back and try and take both scrolls.

"My team isn't weak," Tsukiko told them sincerely, "Sure, we each still have a long way to go, but we will only continue to get stronger. And it's because you hated me and despised me, that I am now able to understand and appreciate how important my teammates are. I couldn't ask for a better team, and I am glad I am with them and not you,"

"Tsukiko?" Lee sounded moved by her words and without turning to look at him she knew he was tearing up,

"Don't cry over this, idiot!" She karate chopped him on the head with the earth scroll she carried and sighed dramatically as he pouted.

"Look, just leave, okay?" Tsukiko turned back to Shion and Takashi as they began to get up off the ground, "You still have a few days left before the test is over and you might have a chance at gaining back both scrolls if you work hard enough. So get going, and don't waste anymore time here,"

The third member of their team appeared at the tree line and she agreed that they had fairly lost their scroll to Team Gai. It was the first time Tsukiko finally got a look at the third member of their team who had replaced her. She had warm brown hair tied back into twin buns, and wore a pale pink shirt with a mandarin collar. Tsukiko recognised her from their class at the academy, her name was Tenten, and she was a pretty strong kunoichi. She appeared to look a little worse for wear after her fight with Neji, but it seemed he didn't hurt her badly or anything.

She called her team mates to keep moving and motivated them as they all made their way to leave,

"Good luck," Tsukiko called to them before they left,

"You too," Tenten smiled, "Whether we are there in the next test or not, do your best!"

Tenten and her team jumped back into the trees and out of sight and Tsukiko turned back to her team mates.

She pulled out the real heaven scroll from her pouch and clapped the two scrolls together in delight.

"We did it!" She smiled, and Neji and Lee couldn't help but smile as well.

Lee lead the way into the tower, through the doors which had only just before been booby-trapped, and they took a look around inside. Tsukiko was about to question what they were to do now but Neji appeared to be one step ahead of her and took the heaven scroll from her and told her to open the earth scroll. She questioned whether that was really a good idea, as they were told not to, but he insisted that was what they were meant to do now. She followed his lead and she opened her scroll at the same time as he did and he took it back from her is haste and threw them both on the floor, his eyes widening in alarm,

"See I told you we shouldn't open them," Tsukiko panicked, creating distance between her self and the now smoking scrolls on the ground,

"No that's not it," He explained more calmly than she expected, "It's a summoning scroll,"

 _'Ha? So it is...'_

Tsukiko came back closer again and as the rising smoke began to clear Tsukiko could see a figure emerging,

"Less that 20 hours to complete the second test" A voice commented and Tsukiko recognised it instantly, "I wouldn't expect anything less from my precious students!"

Gai-sensei emerged from the smoke smiling brightly and Lee exclaimed excitedly seeing their teacher again,

"Sensei!" Lee and Tsukiko exclaimed in excitement,

"That's the true power of youth I know you possess!" Gai cheered, "Congratulations on passing the second test!"

* * *

 **NEXT TIME-**  
CHAPTER 10: _"I'm just really happy!"_

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE-**

So my life has gotten a lot busier now than it was since I started this and that means I can't be updating chapters every few days like I have been. I will try to be making weekly updates and not let the quality or length of the chapters drop. But I want to apologise in advance if I can't keep up to the weekly schedule, especially around the times when I have midterm papers due and everything. Wish me luck juggling all of this! Send me messages of encouragement if I fall too far behind on updating to motivate me to keep writing and I will love you forever!

Thank you, like always, for sticking with me this far! I hope you enjoy the story! :D


	12. CHAPTER 10: Chunin Exams Arc, Part 5

CHAPTER 10:  
"I'm just really happy!"

* * *

For the remaining days of the second test Team Gai was to stay in a room in the tower at the centre of the forest. All the teams who had successfully completed the test were required to stay there in individual team rooms until the test was officially over and they had no knowledge of who else passed and who failed. They spent the time theorising who else would also pass and strategizing how they would go about fighting the other teams if they were to face off against them in the third test. Tsukiko by herself also examined the mark on her wrist and found that sometimes every now and then it would tickle, like the feeling of pins and needles, but other than that it did nothing. Over the passing days the veins around it which had become raised and darker in colour faded back to normal and all that was left was the small black diamond shape of the mark itself.

At around 3 o'clock on the final day of the second test Gai-sensei returned to them again to tell them that the second test was officially over and he was going to escort them to begin the next part of the Chunin Exam. He lead them further into the centre of the tower and along the way Lee eagerly asked their teacher for hints about the next stage but Gai adamantly refused to answer.

He lead them through some large doors at the end of a corridor and they opened up to a large hall, a giant sculpture of hands preforming the Hitsuji seal at the far end. Already assembled there were the other teams that passed the test and Tsukiko quickly spotted Gaara and his two Suna team mates as well as the Sound-nin who they fought with early on the second day. Konoha's Team 10 and Team 7 were also assembled there and they stood with Kabuto and his team. The doors into the hall opened again as Tsukiko's team joined the others and she turned to see Hinata and her team being lead in by Kurenai.

Hinata spotted Tsukiko as she rushed forward to meet her and Tsukiko hugged her tightly and incomprehensibly exclaimed how proud and happy she was,

"Neechan... too tight" Hinata managed to wheeze out and Tsukiko let her go and held her by the shoulders from a distance and smiled at her,

"I'm just really happy!" Tsukiko laughed and it infectiously made Hinata laugh too.

Tsukiko wasn't sure how many other teams would enter or how much time they would have to talk, so instead she made Hinata promise her that she would tell her about everything that she did during the second test later on and Hinata happily agreed. Tsukiko let her sister go so she could talk with the rest of her team and fellow classmates from the Academy and so she could go back to her own team, knowing they would want to talk and quietly evaluate the other teams present.

Returning to her team Tsukiko couldn't help but catch the aggression in Neji's eye as he watched Hinata pass by with her team. She moved into his line of vision so Hinata was blocked off on the other side of her,

"Neji?" Tsukiko questioned tilting her head to the side, but even looking at her his expression didn't change, "What is it?"

"Nothing," Neji replied coldly and turned his head away so he was no longer looking at her, "I'm just surprised someone like her managed to survive this far,"

Tsukiko narrowed her eyes at him, "Hina-chan is stronger than you give her credit for. You shouldn't underestimate her,"

Neji barked out a laugh, but there was no genuine emotion in it and Tsukiko knew he was mocking her. It was moments like this when the main family of the Hyuuga Clan was brought up that revealed a side of Neji that Tsukiko didn't like to see. He was her team mate; she trusted him and cared about him, but his hatred for her sisters and Hiashi scared her and, if she was being honest, it made her hate him.

"I'm going to say this now, so there's no confusion later," Tsukiko warned, her voice lowering so only her team mates could hear, "If we are paired against Team 8 then I'm not going to fight to harm her. I will quit on the spot if I have to because I can't-"

"Fine," Neji cut her off, growing hostile towards her warning, "Lee and I will defeat them without you,"

Tsukiko was slightly taken aback and the surprise showed on her face for a moment before she hardened her expression again, "I wont hurt her and I wont let anyone else hurt her. Do you understand? I will fight on their side if needed to protect her. But that's not what I want, please don't make me choose sides here,"

"I think it's perfectly clear that you have already chosen sides, Tsukiko," Neji growled back and finally looked her in the eye again. To Tsukiko there was something in his voice that didn't just sound angry, but also sound hurt; like he wasn't just talking about the possible team match up. And it was that pain in his voice that made her unable to respond or stop him as he turned away again and made his way to the other side of the hall to be away from her.

Tsukiko sighed heavily and rubbed her temple. _'This is not going well'._ Lee stayed with her and didn't follow Neji and Tsukiko quickly apologised for causing him trouble but he stopped her and told her not to apologise for saying how she felt. He promised that if the third test involved them needing to harm her sister then he would stick with her and stand down as well as he didn't want to hurt someone who was so precious to her.

* * *

Neji stayed on the far side of the group of genin until the Hokage came into the hall and they were all lined up in their teams, and even then Lee was in the middle to keep distance between them. The Hokage began explaining to them the purpose of the Chunin Exams and it's importance but Tsukiko wasn't paying too much attention and only paid attention to the important parts; 'Replacement for war', 'Life-risking battle', and other ominous sounding warning.

At the end of his speech a rather sickly looking exam proctor addressed them and informed them that before they take the third exam they would need to first pass a preliminary round first to decide who can participate in the final round,

"Preliminary?!" Shikamaru asked abruptly, "What do you mean?"

"This time round the first and second exams have been too easy and there are too many teams left," The examiner grumbled, "We need to reduce numbers,"

There was a sense of shock over the students and even Tsukiko raised her eyebrows at that, feeling it would be horrible to fail the exam now during such a situation.

"From now on the exam will be based on individual battles, rather than teamwork," He continued when it seemed no one was going to interrupt him, "So any of you who are not feeling up to the exam you may withdraw now since the preliminary test will start immediately,"

 _'Individual battles, huh'_

So that meant there was no way Team Gai would be paired against Team 8, but it did mean there was a slim chance Neji would be facing Hinata alone. Or even worse she could end up against someone like Gaara or Sasuke, or the people from that Sound-nin team.

As Tsukiko was worrying about the individual battles Kabuto withdrew from the test and Tsukiko watched him leave and he caught her eye as he passed by, and a strange expression crossed his face as he looked at her, though she didn't know what it meant,

 _'It feels like he knows more about me than he is letting on...'_

Tsukiko watched him walk away until he exited through the doors at the back of the room and was out of sight. Her attention was then shifted to Team 7 beside her who were having there own in-team fight. Sasuke clutched his shoulder where the curse mark was and appeared to be in pain. Subconsciously she scratched her own mark she was given on her wrist and questioned why it was that his seemed to cause him a lot of pain while hers did nothing more than tingle slightly on occasion. She quickly gathered that Sakura was trying to convince him to leave the exam and Tsukiko wasn't sure if that was such a bad idea given the state he was in. Sasuke caught her silently watching their teams fight and he turned his aggression towards her,

"This has nothing to do with you either," He lowered his voice, "You made a promise remember,"

"It's one I plan on keeping as long as you keep to your word as well," Tsukiko shrugged, unfazed by his anger, "I have no intention of concerning myself with your business,"

Tsukiko turned back to her own team and found Lee watching her suspiciously, he seemed to be about ready to question her on what promise they had made but before he could the exam proctor called for their attention again,

"If no one else is withdrawing now, then we will begin the preliminaries," He coughed, "You will be fighting as if in a real life confrontation, as there are now 20 of you there will be 10 matches and the winners of which will move on to the final third exam,"

They all listened intently as the examiner explained the rules and how the match would be over only when someone died, were knocked unconscious or admits defeat. He also reserved the right to end the match before any of those three things occurred if an obvious winner had already been decided. He then pointed to a large electric board on the wall and explained that the score-board would reveal the names of the two people fighting just before the match.

"Let's now announce the first two names..."

Tsukiko turned her attention to the board and it took a drawn out moment for the names to appear, all the while Tsukiko's stomach fluttered with excitement for her own fight. She felt she needed something like a fight to release her stress after her argument with Neji.

Sasuke Uchiha vs. Yoroi Akado

"Could the first two participants please come to the front" The proctor instructed and Tsukiko and the rest of the participants were moved up to the balcony level around the hall space to watch the fight, "Sasuke Uchiha and Yoroi Akado, are you both ready?"

* * *

Sasuke's fight against Yoroi ended in his victory despite not using his Sharingan or any ninjutsu, a fact that Tsukiko noted with great curiosity. Part way through the fight his curse mark began to flare up but he managed to supress it quickly and Tsukiko guessed it had something to do with him using chakra that made it activate. Following the fight Kakashi lead him from the hall to treat his injuries personally, rather than having one of the medical-nin on standby see to him.

As the fights passed Tsukiko's interest was completely focused on the matches and she analysed the skill and abilities of the winners with her team mates in hushed voices and the hostility between her and Neji seemed to have passed for the time being. Every other team had their fight before any member of Team Gai was called upon to fight,

Abumi Zaku vs. Shino Aburame: Shino's win.

Tsurugi Misumi vs. Kankuro: Kankuro's win.

Sakura Haruno vs. Ino Yamanaka: No winner.

Temari vs. Chouji: Temari's win.

Tsuchi Kin vs. Shikamaru Nara: Shikamaru's win.

Naruto Uzumaki vs. Kiba Inuzuka: Naruto's win.

"All three of you are still left, and there are only 3 matches left" Gai reminded them, leaning in to join their hushed discussion about the other teams, "You should also be looking at the remaining opponents you could come up against,"

"Unless we get paired up against each other there aren't a lot of opponents left," Tsukiko noted, her attention moving around the room to Gaara, the sound-nin leader Dosu and Hinata who were the only ones who hadn't fought yet, "Ahh, when's it going to be my turn? I'm getting bored waiting so long, I want to fight someone!"

But more than that she was getting anxious about Neji being paired against Hinata. The odds of it happening were getting high and she was getting scared. If Hinata was paired against her or Lee she knew the fight would be okay and even if they fought properly there would be no killing intent. But when it came to Dosu, Gaara and Neji Tsukiko was less certain they wouldn't aim for a killing strike.

"Unless you end up forfeiting before the match actually starts," Neji smirked, and Tsukiko shot him a warning glance that she was going to become angry with him again and while he didn't apologise he also didn't continue pushing either,

"What about you, Lee," Gai-sensei quickly moved the conversation, "It could be your turn now!"

"NO!" He pouted defiantly, "I have waited this long, I might as well just go last now!"

Tsukiko couldn't help but laugh, it was just like Lee to decide something like that, but for her she couldn't think of a worse position to be in. She would have preferred to have been earlier when there were still more possible opponents. She turned her attention back to the score-board which any second could reveal the next match.

Gaara vs. Rock Lee

The words appeared on the board and Tsukiko's breath caught in her throat. _'Damn, I wanted to fight him,'_. Gaara was probably one of the strongest genin competitor they could face, she had felt his killing intent before and had briefly seen the speed of his sand. _'He sand shield is quick... But Lee is probably faster if he doesn't hold back. Be careful...'_

"Yes!" Lee cheered, kicking the air in his victory, "You fell for it! I never wanted to go last!"

 _'What?'_

Lee jumped over the railing down to the hall space where Gaara was already waiting,

"Alright Lee! Go do it!" Gai cheered for him, "Youth Power!"

"Let the 9th match begin!" The examiner called and Lee wasted no time attacking first.

He struck first with a powerful kick but Gaara was easily able to block it with his sand and the others around Tsukiko seemed surprised by his gourde being filled with sand. She would have as well if it wasn't for the fact that she had seen it before. Lee was pushed back by the sands force but as soon as he landed Lee rushed forward to continue his attack. Just as Tsukiko knew Lee was fast, his movements were hard to keep up with as she watched him, but Gaara didn't move a muscle and was able to block every attack. Lee was forced to retreat as Gaara finally attacked back and he landed on top of the sculpture at the end of the hall.

"Lee!" Gai called, striking his signature nice guy pose, "Take them off!"

"But Gai-sensei?" Lee questioned, "Are you sure it's okay?"

"It's alright, I'll allow it!"

Lee laughed quietly but the sound travelled across the hall as he sat down to remove his leg weights. Tsukiko could see the confusion on the faces of those around her and she smirked to herself knowing they were underestimating how hard Lee worked, and how fast he really was when he didn't hold back. As he dropped his weights they landed with a crash as they broke the ground below and in the blink of an eye he was gone from the statue and Tsukiko almost missed seeing his next attack on Gaara as it was too fast her eyes to keep up with.

Eventually Lee was able to land a physical attack on Gaara, but he didn't stop there, he continued attacking until he landed more hits that completely by passed Gaara's sand shield. However it was quickly revealed that the moving sand was not his only defence and Gaara was able to cover his entire body in a layer of thick sand. But Lee was not ready to quit yet and he smiled at Gai-sensei, a silent question to up his power level and Gai confirmed it with a thumbs up.

Lee began to prepare his Lotus technique and the moment he struck Gaara didn't have a chance a blocking it and Tsukiko herself missed the first strike that shot him up into the air. His Lotus technique was different to how Tsukiko knew it and as Lee was forced to alter it to beat Gaara. As Lee and Gaara began their decent back to the ground Tsukiko began to cheer but Neji held a hand to stop her and when she looked at him his Byakugan was activated,

"No, that's not him," Neji explained vaguely and Tsukiko barely had time to turn back to Lee's fight to realise what he meant as the shell of Gaara's sand shield broke upon the ground without him being in it.

A second later Gaara appeared behind Lee and a cave of sand rushed over him and towards Lee and he was thrown back into a wall by the force. He was unable to dodge the attack due to the effect of using the Lotus ability and he was left open to take more of Gaara's attacks.

"Lee!" Tsukiko found herself yelling before she could stop herself, "Move or you're going to die!"

He seemed to be a step ahead of her and already was creating distance between himself and Gaara. He seemed to have regained some of his strength in a matter of seconds and he prepared to attack again,

"How is he-?" Tsukiko murmured to herself as Lee seemed stronger now than he did before,

"Lee-san is smiling?" Sakura commented as well, sharing her confusion,

"Heh," Gai-sensei smiled, "The Lotus of the Leaf blooms twice,"

His comment was vague and even Tsukiko didn't understand what he meant, she had no idea what Lee had done to regain his strength. But it seemed Kakashi knew what he referred to,

"Gai... You didn't?" Kakashi questioned, his voice low and cool, "...The Eight Inner Gates..."

 _'Eight Gates'._ Tsukiko had heard that name before. Lee had confided in her than he was learning forbidden techniques in secret, ones that no one else could master. One that involved removing the physical limits of chakra flow in the body to increase power and strength. _'Is this the technique he was talking about? What exactly is it?'_

"You're right, Kakashi," Gai confirmed his suspicions, "He will open them,"

"To teach him such a dangerous technique..." Kakashi's voice grew harder and more serious, "I have no interest in hearing your motivation, but you have cross a line, Gai. I've lost all respect for you"

"What would you know about that boy?" Gai's eyes narrowed and he watched Kakashi from the corner of his eye, his tone of voice was one Tsukiko had never heard from him, "He has a precious goal that he would give his life to prove, so I wanted to help him accomplish it. That was my motivation, and I do not regret it."

 _'Sensei... So this really is what Lee was talking about. You would go this far for him?'_

Tsukiko turned back to the fight as Kakashi explained to Sakura what the ability was and she leaned heavily on the railing feeling the tension of the fight building further as the two continued fighting,

Gai leaned forward and questioned her in a quiet tone, "You don't seemed to surprised, Lee told you that I was teaching him this technique?"

"Ah... No, not exactly..." Tsukiko tried to lie to cover up that she knew as Gai had specified that Lee told no one else about it, "I mean... Okay, yes. He told me he was learning something forbidden in secret...But... I didn't know details and I didn't imagine it would be something like this..."

"It's okay," Gai patted her lightly on the shoulder, "I thought he might have told you anyway. He wanted to prove his strength against you and Neji, but in different ways. To him you are a powerful ally and someone to catch up to and fight side-by-side with, but it is Neji he truly wanted to defeat, as a rival and as someone to try surpass."

"Neji, you didn't know then?" Tsukiko questioned, though she already guessed so her self, and he moved to stand beside her without taking his eye off the match,

"I didn't" He confirmed, "If Lee was to use this to beat me, then he was smart to keep it a secret,"

"It wasn't just to defeat you though," Gai corrected, "Lee was always dedicated to training, but it was after what happened last year with Hori that he became equally as focused on using this power to protect those who were precious to him and not just to prove his own strength."

Tsukiko didn't take her eye of Lee's match and watched intently as Lee's ability and strength had increased so much as he opened the Fifth Gate and his movements were beyond anything she had ever seen. Gaara didn't seem to stand a chance against his speed and power. Lee began preparing a technique Tsukiko could see was a greater version of his Lotus, and even if Gaara seen he was preparing for it too, there was nothing he could do to block it. The impact of Gaara's body being thrown down to the ground shattered the ground and sent debris flying through the air. Tsukiko easily dodged away from a large broken tile by turning and ducking into Neji's shoulder so it flew pass where her face just was. She turned back away again quickly and found that Gaara's gourde had broken apart to cushion his fall and Lee was injured laying further away.

Gaara's sand quickly raced towards him, but Lee didn't have the strength or speed left to escape it as it climbed up his left leg and arm and he tried to pull away. He sand tightened in the blink of an eye and Lee collapsed on the ground, his eyes closed and his crushed limbs laying awkwardly. More sand rushed towards him and there was nothing Lee could do to fight back,

 _'He's going to die!'_

Tsukiko opened her mouth to scream, but the flash of movement silenced her and blew her hair forward with the created wind. Gai-sensei was in front of him in an instant, blocking the sand with an effortless brush of his hand as he stared Gaara in the eye, cold and unforgiving,

"Why?" Gaara managed to ask, his voice strained, "Why did you save...him?"

"He is my beloved student," Gai answered simply,

"That's enough" The exam proctor finally intervened, "Gaara is the winner!"

Lee, bleeding profusely from the arm and leg that were crushed by Gaara's sand, managed to stand up and take on his fighting stance again and as Gai-sensei hugged him Tsukiko understood that he was unconscious. She quickly bounded over the railing and headed towards them as the medical-nin moved his body onto a stretcher. She stayed kneeling by his side holding his good right hand as the medical-nin called Gai-sensei away to talk.

 _'Lee... To think this fight would end like this. Your stronger than I could have imagined... But Gaara... He's a monster'._ She looked up to the balcony where he stood uncaring with the rest of his Suna team and Tsukiko narrowed her eyes at him. _'I won't forgive him for this. Lee, I will get him back for this, please just wait'_

Gai sensei returned and Tsukiko was pulled away so the medical-nin could see to his treatment in another room. She made her way back up the stairs to the balcony level to where Neji was and watched as Gai and Kakashi talked quietly below.

 _'Is Lee going to be okay?'_

* * *

There were now only four participants left and Tsukiko was painfully aware of who those last four were. So far no two team members had been paired up against each other and she guessed that was done on purpose. So she knew there was pretty much a 50/50 chance of Hinata being forced into a fight against Neji and Tsukiko was more scared now of that prospective than she was during Lee and Gaara's fight.

 _'Please let me be the one to face Hina-chan... Please...'_

She balled her hand up into a fight fist and she felt her nails digging into her palm and she stared wide eyed at the board waiting for the next names to appear...

Hinata Hyuuga vs. Neji Hyuuga

* * *

 **NEXT TIME-**  
Chapter 11: _"Even if it's you- No... Especially because it is you..."_ **\+ SPECIAL CHAPTER**


	13. CHAPTER 11: Chunin Exams Arc, Part 6

CHAPTER 11:  
"Even if it's you- No... Especially because it is you..."

* * *

"Neji!" Tsukiko chased after him as he made his way down the stairs to almost as soon as the names appeared on the board,

"Stop. What ever it is you're going to say, I don't want to hear it," Neji snapped before she could continue, "I'm not going to forfeit. Hinata-sama may be important to you, but she means nothing to me. If I have to fight her to move further in this exam then I am not going to back down,"

"Please, just listen-"

"I said stop," Neji cut her off and continued down the stairs ignoring her. But Tsukiko wasn't going to quit that easily and she followed him to the bottom of the stairs where she was able to catch his hand to keep him from pulling away,

"I'm not asking you to forfeit! And even if I was I know you wouldn't!" Tsukiko rushed while she had the chance, "But you can win without needing to hurt her, please just don't turn this into a vendetta against the main family,"

Neji didn't look at her and only turned his attention to the hand she had clasped around his own,

"Neji... Please..." Tsukiko became desperate and her grip loosened but Neji didn't pull away though he easily could have, "Even if it's you- No... Especially because it is you... I don't think I could ever forgive you for harming her and I don't want that. I don't want to hate you. If that means anything to you... then win, but not at the cost of her life,"

After a drawn out moment where Neji still didn't say anything Tsukiko finally let go of his hand hesitantly and he continued on his way towards the proctor to begin his match. On the other side of the balcony Hinata descended the stairs as well and Tsukiko watched her carefully, it was obvious she was scared. She came to a stop in front of Neji, starting their fight further to the front of the hall than the other fights to avoid the shattered, broken ground created in Gaara and Lee's fight. _'Hina-chan... Please just quit now, you are stronger than anyone gives you credit for but you can't win here.'_

Tsukiko climbed back up the stairs to rejoin Gai-sensei who appeared to be explaining the complicated relationship between Hinata and Neji to Naruto and his team.

"So then, Tsukiko, Neji is your cousin as well as your team mate?" Sakura questioned as she joined them,

"Hmm?" Tsukiko raised an eyebrow, "No, I'm not related to Neji at all?"

"Oh? I thought... 'Cause Hinata calls you 'Neechan'"

"I've lived under the charge of the Hyuuga main family since I was eight," Tsukiko explained, understanding her confusion, "We aren't related by blood, but we have grown up together like sisters. Neji has been... Estranged... from the main family since before I arrived, so I only met him at the Academy later on and back then we didn't really get along,"

 _'Though, even now... '_

"I see," Sakura nodded, "So this fight... How strong is Neji?"

"The Hyuuga Clan generally is strong, their ability makes them a formidable opponent for anyone." Gai answered for her when she hesitated to answer, "But even among them Neji is a genius. He has far surpassed Hinata and other members of the main branch, despite not having the same resources,"

"Hinata... Can't win," Tsukiko confessed and her grip tightened on the railing in front of her as it pained her to say it out loud. Naruto watched her as she said this and her words seemed to trouble him, he turned back to the fight with an angry expression and Tsukiko could understand why he seemed so frustrated.

Tsukiko also turned back the match just as the proctor announced the fight was to begin,

"Hinata-sama, withdraw now," Neji warned, "You cannot win here and you cannot change-"

"YOU CAN" Naruto yelled over him, succumbing to his anger, "STOP DECIDING THINGS FOR PEOPLE! KICK THAT BASTARD'S ASS, HINATA!"

Tsukiko again found herself shocked by the strange boy's yelling, but for some reason she felt vaguely motivated by his words. Tsukiko's eyes stayed trained on Hinata and she watched how her whole demeanour changed hearing Naruto cheer for her, her expression hardened and she became determined. Hinata took her defensive stance and activated her Byakugan, it was a sight Tsukiko had seen many times before but something about her now seemed different.

Understanding that Hinata had no intention of backing down Neji also readied himself, their stances identical. They both struck for each other at the same time using the Gentle Fist technique and Tsukiko watched their movements closely, looking for the slightest touch. Hinata was the first to land a strike and Tsukiko's breath caught as she watched Neji fumble slightly,

 _'Did she...?'_

"Hit harder, Hinata, that wont be enough!" Naruto called to encourage her but Tsukiko held up a hand to catch his attention,

"No. That small touch is enough," Tsukiko explained, "That is the jutsu of the Hyuuga Clan..."

 _'But something's not right...'_

Tsukiko trailed off, her focus completely gone from the conversation and trained entirely on the fight. Neji's movements were slower than she knew them to be, he wasn't hesitating, he was holding back on purpose. As Hinata made a perfectly timed strike against Neji Tsukiko could tell that is was too perfect an opening,

"Hina-chan!" Tsukiko called to warn her but there was no time.

As Hinata landed her strike Neji landed his own, but while hers did not affect him Hinata was left coughing up blood as he struck at her throat. Despite her bleeding Hinata did not stop fighting and she continued to attack but Neji was now easily able to counter her and send her flying backwards, completely unable to use chakra anymore.

"You understand don't you? This is the difference between us that can never change," Neji looked down on her, "Forfeit now,"

"No... I won't" Hinata struggled to get up, "'I don't go back on my word'... That is... My ninja way too,"

Hinata was able to make it to her feet and she wiped the blood off her chin, her eyes set and determined as she watched Neji. Tsukiko's grip loosened on the railing as she watched her sister struggle and not give up. _'You have always wanted to prove yourself... I'm proud of you, Hina-chan... I don't mean to doubt you but...'_

Naruto continued yelling and cheering Hinata on and Tsukiko was silently grateful she had someone cheering her own so optimistically when she could only doubt her.

"This is my last warning, Hinata-sama," Neji told her, taking his stance again "Will you quit?

"Neji-niisan, I wont quit," Hinata affirmed, "No matter how many time you ask,"

"Then I can only win this by hurting you" Neji turned his head catching Tsukiko's eye, he wasn't talking to Hinata anymore, but was warning Tsukiko that he would do what he needed to win. Neji turned away again after a drawn out moment. Hinata fought with everything she had and after every strike Neji made that hit her she kept getting up. Her eyes showed a determination Tsukiko had never seen before and despite fearing how the fight was going to end she found herself cheering for her alongside Naruto.

It took a final blow to the chest to silence them both and Tsukiko was about ready to climb over the railing to go to Hinata when she began to get up again, a small smile remaining on her face.

"You can barely stand, continuing to fight is useless," Neji frowned, "From the time of your birth the responsibility of the Hyuuga main house had been forced on you and you have hated yourself for your own weakness. People cannot change, that is destiny."

"Your wrong, Niisan" Hinata shook her head, "I can see, it's not me who is suffering because of the main and branch families, it is you..."

 _'Oh...'_

There was a change in Neji disposition after hearing her say this and he activated his Byakugan again. His stance changed slightly, but it was enough for Tsukiko to know that he was no longer focused but had become blinded by his anger.

 _'This is bad...'_

"STOP!" Tsuikiko screamed as she jumped down over the railing, knowing Hinata would most likely die if Neji struck her again. She wasn't moving fast enough to cover the gap and luckily three of the jonin instructors, as well as the examiner, were faster than her and stopped him by the time Tsukiko came to a skidded stop in time to catch Hinata as her heart finally gave out from the previous attack.

"H-Hina-chan...?" Tsukiko questioned as she laid her sister down on her back gently. Vaguely in the background she heard Neji and Naruto's raised voices but her attention was completely focused on Hinata and her whole body shook as Kurenai called for the medical-nin. Tsukiko quickly moved out of the way to let them do their job and as she backed away a few small steps Neji came into her periphery and her attention became focused on him,

"You..." Tsukiko growled, rounding towards him, "You didn't need to go that far!"

"How far I choose to go is not-"

"YOU WERE GOING TO KILL HER!" Tsukiko yelled, an anger coming over her she hadn't felt before, "I KNOW YOU HATE THE MAIN FAMILY, BUT HINATA DID NOTHING-"

"She is part of the main family, that is enough reason for me to hate her," Neji snapped, although he didn't yell his voice cut across hers,

"Hinata is my family," Tsukiko reminded him, "Are you okay with hating me too? Because I-"

"Yes, I am," Neji turned his head away indignantly when he answered and while there was no hesitation Tsukiko had known him long enough to notice that he always turned his head from her when she made him uncomfortable, it was a small tell that seemed to only apply to her,

 _'You liar. I don't believe you.'_

"Then I guess we are on the same page," Tsukiko lied as well but she didn't take her eyes off of him as he refused to look at her, "I told you I couldn't forgive you if you hurt her,"

Hearing this Neji finally looked back at her and he narrowed his eyes, appraising her, "So what are you going to do now, Tsukiko?"

She didn't answer and she judged the testing tone in his voice. She didn't know what do to now. Tsukiko balled her hands at her side, she wasn't sure she hated him like she had said she did, but she was definitely angry enough to fight him without holding back.

"And, I'm curious, what would you have done?" He continued when Tsukiko didn't answer or move to fight him, "If I had actually killed her?"

"I would have killed you," Tsukiko answered, no hesitation or doubt in her voice which hid how she really felt.

Despite this he seemed to doubt her words and he smirked, "Oh, Really?"

"Do you forget which one of us isn't speaking in theoretic when talking about killing?" She lowered her voice, "They're easy words to say when your hands are clean of blood, Neji, but I know the weight of those words when they're not an empty threat. I have killed to protect you in the past, so do you really doubt how far I would go for Hinata? For my own sister?"

This seemed to strike a cord and the smirk fell on Neji's face as he seemed to weigh her words. It was complete bravado on Tsukiko's part, but Neji seemed convinced.

"So you should pray that she lives,"

"Why wait to decide how this should end?" Neji asked, his voice cold, despite the fear that still remained in his eyes after her threat. As he said this his stance became defensive and he activated his Byakugan again. Tsukiko followed suit and began extending a bone out from her wrist but just as she was readying to strike at him Gai-sensei came between them, his back to Neji as he stared her down,

"Now's not the time to lose your composure, Tsukiko," Gai warned quietly, his choice to put his back to Neji showing that he thought Tsukiko was the bigger risk in starting the fight.

Gai didn't move and he waited until she backed down and raised her hands in surrender, at least for the time being, "You still have your fight to go. You need to focus on that right now,"

 _'I am angry and it hurts... But yet... Why does it hurt more lie like that, and say that I hate you or would hurt you?'_

* * *

After Hinata was carried from the room and the students and jonin instructors were back up on the balcony Tsukiko stood facing the other final participant, Dosu Kinuta, the leader of the Sound-sin team who had injured Lee during the second test and seemed to know something about _'that person'_ who seemed to keep being brought up around her.

 _'Gai-sensei is right, focus on the task at hand. Hinata will be okay, but now is not the time for thoughts about anything else. Focus. Focus and win!'_

"Now for the 10th and final match," The examiner announced and Tsukiko took up her defensive stance, "Begin!"

Dosu's attack came faster than she thought it would and she barely had time to dodge out of the way and create distance between them, landing on the uneven ground surface after Lee and Gaara's fight. Tsukiko remembered the attack he had made against Kabuto before the first exam and what she had been told about his technique after the altercation during the second. Tsukiko knew if she tried to block his attack it would still send sound waves to rupture her eardrums. Just one good attack like that would knock her out, or possibly kill her from the rattling in her skull.

 _'Except... Sound is heard by...'_ Tsukiko smirked to herself, _'Sorry, But I might just be the worst opponent you could have faced...'_

Tsukiko adjusted her headband and turned her attention to her own attack, withdrawing a shuriken from her pouch,

"You seem a little distracted, little girl," Dosu taunted from a distance, "Your team mate being horribly defeated by Gaara and then having someone you care about almost killed by your other teammate... Must be tough. You should forfeit now and save your self from joining those two."

Tsukiko huffed a laugh, not allowing herself to be provoked by him, "I'm not distracted, in fact I could use something relaxing and easy to focus completely on right now; like defeating you,"

He narrowed his eyes at her, himself being provoked by her instead,

"Defeating me wont be that easy,"

"Then prove it," Tsukiko flung the shuriken at him and he deflected it with his sound amplifier and she waved a hand for him to come at her,

 _'So he will use that thing as a shield as well... Good...'_

Dosu came to attack her again and Tsukiko kicked up a loose piece of tile and caught it. As Dosu drew closer she aimed it at him and threw it and in the blind spot behind it she extended a finger bone towards him. When Dosu blocked the incoming debris the bone hidden behind it caught him off guard and he barely managed to deflect from hitting him by using the sound amplifier on his arm . The bone was denser and stronger than the hard material it was made from and it slightly cracked under the impact of the bone. Despite this, Dosu continued his attack and Tsukiko extended more bones out from her fingers to catch him but he dodged them, knowing now that his amplifier wasn't strong enough to act as a shield.

"That kekkei genkai..." Dosu mused as he evaded her attacks, and he appraised her closely, as if trying to figure out something about her he couldn't comprehend. Tsukiko debated with herself whether to question him further about why he seemed to recognise her Clan markings, and now her kekkei genkai, but decided it was best not to while there were so many people around as she still wanted to keep her connection to Orochimaru and 'that person' a secret for the time being.

He continued to close the space between them and eventually Tsukiko was forced to withdraw them to move to close combat fighting and she removed two curved rib bones, from the bottom of her rib cage under her shirt, the inner edge sharpened like a sickle. She kept the momentum of their fight up so he was unable to use his sound amplifier and was forced to keep blocking and dodging her attacks rather than attack back. She needed to keep him occupied while she found an opening to end the fight. His taijutsu ability was a lot slower than hers so it wasn't too difficult to overwhelm him but fighting on the uneven ground proved to be a problem and as she stepped back the broken tile she stood on tipped with her weight and she stumbled backwards, dropping one of her knives. Tsukiko landed painfully on her back at his feet and Dosu smirked down at her as he raised his fist to punch for her. She quickly flipped herself backwards to be on her feet again but was barely in the process of standing upright when he swung for her,

"Too slow, little girl," He practically sang as she leaned back to avoid the physical impact of his fist and took the shock of the sound wave head on.

Tsukiko felt the shock of the wave enter her body but the sound waves never made its way to her ears and was unable to cause her any damage - just as she planed. She took advantage of Dosu letting his guard down, thinking he had defeated her, to lung for him, picking up her discarded knife in the process. Tsukiko jammed the two sickle shaped bones into the holes of the sound amplifier and the curve of them fit perfectly around it - just as she planned. Using all the strength she had she ripped them though the amplifier, cutting through it and shattering it.

Dosu reacted immediately as he figured out what happened, he clutched his arm and broken amplifier and retreated back away from her, "What the... How?"

He inspected the damage while he had the chance and it was obvious it was ruined, if he tried to use it again the shock of the sound wave would probably destroy what was left of it.

 _'Damn, I wasn't strong enough and it's still intact. One more try,'_

Tsukiko didn't allow him anymore time to think and she began her attack again, sending a bone whip to catch him around the leg as he tried to evade her. She pulled him back towards her flying through the air and she punched him, turning the blade away from him and hardening the bones in her fist as it connected with the side of his face. Dosu bounced and slid across the ground from the impact and she followed up with another attack, throwing her two sickle shaped bones at him. Dosu could sense the finality of her movements and knew she was preparing to end the fight and he knew he had to stop her. He came to a stop backed against the wall using his sound amplifier for the last time, knowing it would destroy it, but hoping it would kill her.

The shock of the sound wave caused the whole amplifier to break apart internally, sending the broken shrapnel firing towards Tsukiko with the wave. But she didn't change her attack and Tsukiko braced herself for the physical impact of the broken pieces of the amplifier as she also extended forward all ten of her finger bone towards Dosu - who now unable to dodge her attack in time.

 _'If I evade now I lose my opening. I want this fight to be over quick, I can take it'_

The wave of sound again passed through her body without harming her, but the shrapnel however was able to do a bit of damage and they tore into her skin like tiny blades. The impact of them knocked her down on one knee and jolted her bone whips off target. Her intention was to have all ten of the bones surround him and pin him to the wall, but not harm him. However the impact and pain caused by the shrapnel caused her to lose focus and instead she ended up piercing through his left leg and shoulder accidentally.

"THAT SHOULD HAVE KILLED YOU," Dosu yelled at her, the pain of being impaled thick in his voice,

"And if I wanted to kill you, I would have," Tsukiko bit back, the pain evident in her voice too, but she made up for it by twisting the bones which had become lodged in his limbs, "But I didn't and now you can't move... I'd say this fights over,"

Tsukiko turned her attention to the exam proctor that stood to her right and he coughed as he nodded in agreement, Dosu was unable to break free,

"Opponent is unable to continue fighting," The examiner announced, "Winner: Tsukiko Kaguya"

Tsukiko withdrew her bones back into place. She turned her back on Dosu and found herself smiling, infected by the bright beam on Gai-sensei's face which instantly stood out to her from the crowd on the balcony and beside him the other Konoha teams cheered for her victory, but to her it was silent and there mouths formed words without sounds. Her attention moved to her other teammate beside him and she hardened her expression, Neji's expression also emotionless as he silently judged her from a distance. Neither of the two broke eye contact for a drawn out moment. It was Neji who's eye broke away first, his attention shifting ever so slightly to something behind her and the change in his expression was enough to signal a warning to her. Tsukiko turned sharply just as the exam proctor caught Dosu's wrist as he prepared to strike for her from behind with her own bone sickle,

"The fights over," The proctor warned darkly, taking the bone away from him,

"HOW?!" Dosu demanded, ignoring the man who stayed his strike, "No one has ever blocked my attack before! Why wouldn't it-"

It was Tsukiko's turn to smirk as she cupped a hand around her ear dramatically, cutting him off as he ranted at her, "I'm sorry, what are you saying? I can't actually hear you,"


	14. CHAPTER 11-1: Special

**SPECIAL POV:**

"Shouldn't that amplified sound wave have ruptured her eardrums?!" Sakura exclaimed in surprise as she watched Tsukiko take the force of it head on without issue, "I seen what that did to Kabuto... It wouldn't matter that she dodged the attack, it would still hit her, why didn't it?"

Gai turned to look at the kunoichi who spoke, she was one of Kakashi's students and she seemed to be quick to pick things up, Gai was impressed.

Gai had already guessed at what Tsukiko had done to counter the sound waves and he turned to Neji for conformation, knowing his Byakugan would be able to see to her skeletal system,

"She removed the bones from her ears," Neji confirmed, his voice dull and uninterested, "At the beginning of the fight when she adjusted her forehead protector she extended them out and hid them in her pouch,"

Gai turned his attention to Neji who appeared to be watching the fight but he seemed to be unfocused. Gai had watched the fight between him and Tsukiko unfold and while they both seemed convincing in their anger and hatred he wasn't overly sure it was all true to how they both felt.

 _'It was unlike him to loose his composure during his match against Hinata and I think he regrets it... Tsukiko's upset, but I don't think she would kill him. I don't think either of them really want to hurt each other'_

"What does that mean?" Naruto questioned, turning to Kakashi for answers, "What is Dosu's ninjutsu?"

"Sound is a vibration. Dosu's attack works by amplifying those vibrations to dangerous levels which cause the eardrum to rupture when the vibrations pass through the ear," Kakashi explained, not taking his eyes off the fight, "Simply speaking, that vibration is heard because of a connection of bones and fluid in the ear, which is how you can hear me talk now. But without the bones the vibrations can't pass through or rupture the eardrum, which makes the ability useless. It's a clever plan, but it means she is completely deaf right now and that is a disadvantage for her,"

Gai had stopped listening to Kakashi's explanation, he already knew everything he said and silently he praised Tsukiko for her quick analytical ability and strategy. Although he tried hard to stay focused on watching her fight Gai seemed to find his mind wandering.

Entering his team in the exams had proven to be a greater deal than he had anticipated. Lee was in a critical condition after his fight with Gaara and Gai had been told that he would probably never be able to become a ninja. Coupled with the events of Neji's fight against Hinata and the tension between him and Tsukiko, Gai was left deeply concerned for the future of his team. Their determination and desires to prove themselves had been their greatest shared strength as a team. Lee wanted to prove that without ninjutsu he could still be a great ninja and stand equally with geniuses like his teammates. Tsukiko wanted to prove that she was a kunoichi of Konoha, loyal despite her heritage. And Neji, though he would never admit it, wanted to prove a similar point, that despite his position in the branch family he was every bit as capable as the main family. They all acted confident, arrogant even in Neji's case, and believed in their own individual strength. But, when it came down to it, they all suffered from their own insecurities. They knew they were strong, there was no doubting that, but they were never strong enough. And that was the thing that had kept pushing them to train harder, get stronger and be more.

But now it seemed that that strength, that desire to prove themselves that Gai had been so proud of, would be the one thing that broke them.

Gai's attention was drawn back to Tsukiko's fight as it appeared to be coming to a close and she had him cornered against the wall on the far side of the hall. Dosu's amplifier appeared to have one attack left if he was lucky. Gai knew that the waves did not matter as they couldn't hurt Tsukiko anyway, but could see the damage that would occur from the shrapnel if it shattered when he tried to use it.

Just as Gai predicted, when Dosu used the sound amplifier for the last time, it shattered and sent jagged, broken pieces hurling towards Tsukiko. However, she didn't lose focus on her own attack and instead took the impact and pain in order to immobilise Dosu. With that the fight was over and Gai cheered as the exam proctor declared her victory - despite knowing that she couldn't actually hear his words of encouragement.

From the corner of his eye Kakashi caught Gai's eye and he nodded slowly,

"So that is the kekkei genkai of the Kaguya Clan," He commented, his voice lowered slightly, "I have heard about it before, but this is the first time I've seen it for myself,"

Gai agreed, his voice lowering to match Kakashi's, "It's a fearsome ability, even when only being used to immobilise and not harm,"

"I have heard," Kakashi nodded, an unspoken reference to the last years incident in Suna - an event which had become known to a number of parties Gai would have preferred been kept unaware.

Danzo Shimura being one such party.

He had seen the possible merit her abilities would have being employed by Root, despite the official report being that Root no longer existed. As an already alienated, impressionable eleven year old, Tsukiko could have easily been manipulated and twisted into becoming a very dangerous subordinate for him. But Gai had no proof and only a suspicion against Danzo, one he had shared it with Kakashi, and for a while after the mission in Suna they had kept a close eye on Tsukiko to insure no harm came to her and that Danzo kept a distance.

Gai believed he knew his student well, he had seen her kindness and her desire to protect rather than needlessly harm, he knew that an organisation like Root or Anbu was not suited to her. The way she ended her fight with Dosu was just more proof of that fact. He did not doubt that to protect herself, or more importantly to protect Hinata, Lee, Neji or even himself, she would be prepared to kill. But while there was no necessity for such extremities she would show mercy and forgiveness.

It always puzzled him that technically she was a girl from such a historically violent and bloodthirsty Clan, with a kekkei genkai only used for genocide and raging war. Because to him, when he looked at her, she was just the same as any other Konoha ally, a loyal comrade and a beloved student.

* * *

With the preliminaries over the Hokage readdressed the remaining examinees still in the exam and informed them of the rules for the final test which would be held in a months time. At this time they also revealed the match order and showed that Neji's first opponent was Naruto Uzumaki and Tsukiko was the odd numbered person who was set to face the winner of the Shikamaru Nara vs. Temari match. Neji and Tsukiko were also in different pools which meant if they were to fight each other in the exams it would only be after they had already defeated everyone else.

When the Hokage finally released them so they could leave, for the first time in the 5 days of participating in the exams, Gai quickly intercepted Tsukiko and Neji before they could leave. His intention was to get them to talk and see how to go about resolving the tension created during the preliminaries but they both cut him off before he could say what he wanted to,

"There's nothing more to say right now," Tsukiko shrugged, trying to sound nonchalant but Gai could sense there was a lot more she wanted to say, "Apologising can't fix this, not that he would offer one even if it would,"

Neji narrowed his eyes, glaring down at her, "I have nothing to apologise for,"

"The fact you think that is the problem," She muttered in reply, seemingly trying to keep her emotions in check,

"No, the problem is you've already picked a side in a fight that has nothing to do with you,"

"This has everything to do with me when you try to kill someone I love," Tsukiko snapped, "I warned you what would happen,"

"'Warned'? How I-"

"I begged you not to hurt her! That by doing so would hurt me too. But that obviously meant nothing to you and you made your choice; your hatred of the main family is more important."

Neji didn't reply and he turned his attention away from her so he no longer looked her in the eye. It was a fact that even Gai couldn't refute and he understood why Tsukiko was so upset. But although in-team fighting was not something they needed at the moment Gai found that it was no his place to intervene - at least for the moment.

"There we have it then, it's as I said, there's nothing more to say," Tsukiko sighed rubbing her temple, but none of the bite left her voice as she spoke, "If you're able to make it to the finals then I'll make my point clear then,"

"I'll be in the finals..." Neji affirmed his pale eyes set and determined as he peered down at Tsukiko who met his gaze in a silent agreement. She kept her head even, refusing to look up at him or show intimidation by their substantial height difference.

Gai looked between them,

 _'Maybe fighting in the finals will bring about an understanding between them. I don't want to see Team Gai fail here... But... I'm worried...'_

* * *

 **NEXT TIME-**  
Chapter 12: _"Fear flickered in Neji's eye and Tsukiko grinned wickedly"_

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE-**

Scientific inaccuracies? What scientific inaccuracies? That is how hearing works... don't look at me like that! I know what I'm talking about... *shifty eyes*

Okay, okay! You got me... Fine. I confess...

I have no idea if that would work or not? I do know hearing sound is about vibrations and there are 3 bones in the ear though, so that part is accurate. But for the sake of fanfic entertainment we are just going to take it for granted that if you remove all the bones vibrations cannot pass through... Which I don't actually know is true. I tried to google for answers but found nothing specific so I just rolled with it.

I personally don't actually think it would have worked?

But shuuuuush... I never said that... The author can't be pointing out their own plot holes now can they?!

Seriously though, I hated science at high school so I didn't pay much attention in class, but if anyone did listen to their teachers in biology and knows better what would actually happen and can help me rewrite this to be more accurate please tell me! I would like this to be as realistic as possible - you know, as realistic as physics-defying ninjas can be :P

So enlighten me, oh smart biology-loving readers, was I okay in taking creative licence here, or did you read it and think; "That's so grossly inaccurate, what a shitty author not doing their research better!"


	15. CHAPTER 12: Chunin Exams Arc, Part 7

CHAPTER 12:  
"Fear flickered in Neji's eye and Tsukiko grinned wickedly"

* * *

The first week of the month break before the final exam Tsukiko spent a lot of time at the hospital. Hinata was released within a few days but Lee remained in a critical condition and showed no signs of improving. Gai-sensei had been the only person who had visited Lee more times than she had, but she knew many other of the Konoha-nin from the exams has also been to see him. As far as she was aware Neji had not been one of those people and Tsukiko was unsure whether that fact surprised her or not.

When she wasn't at the hospital Tsukiko was busy training. She had been somewhat inspired by Gaara's sand shield and theorised that she could recreate something similar with her bones - growing them to create a layer of bone to cover her whole body beneath her skin. Tsukiko didn't doubt it would be stronger and more impenetrable than Gaara's sand but in trying to develop the technique she had already come across a number of obstacles. The amount of chakra it used manipulating so many bones at once was the main problem and lately it seemed that her chakra control wasn't as precise as it usually was and she was draining chakra far quicker than she should have been. Another problem was the amount of concentration it took to grow them so precisely- she didn't think she would be able to fight while trying to activate it. But despite all this she was determined to see it through and with the help of Gai-sensei they were making progress.

Her conflict with Neji meant that time with their sensei was divided and Tsukiko felt bad for the strain it was starting to put on him too. With visiting Lee in hospital and then trying to give Neji and Tsukiko equal and ample training time he seemed to be exhausted and they were barely at the end of the first week. They still had another 3 more weeks before the finals.

 _'I don't know if he can keep all this up... This is hurting him too'_

It was this thought that spurred Tsukiko that morning into going over to the compound of the Hyuuga branch family - a place she knew she really wasn't welcome - to see Neji for the first time since the preliminaries. She hadn't allowed herself to think it over rationally as she would have convinced herself not to go, so instead she blindly went ahead without doubting herself.

After introducing herself to the person who opened the door for her and asking to speak to Neji they departed to collect him and Tsukiko finally began to regret her decision.

 _'What are you doing, Tsuki? What are you even going to say?'_

Before she could fully develop a coherent sentence Neji appeared at the door, apprehensive about her sudden appearance.

Tsukiko greeted him lamely and after an awkward silence fell between them she sighed, finding it ridiculous that talking to him had become such a strange experience,

 _'Why did this all have to happen?'_

"Have you seen Gai-sensei recently?" Tsukiko asked, seeing no point beating around the bush anymore with awkward niceties,

"If your here to complain that-" Neji began sourly, but Tsukiko cut him off,

"No, that's not what I mean," She raised a hand, indicating she came in peace and not to argue anymore, "I mean have you _seen_ him. It hasn't even been a week into this month long training and he is exhausted. Between this... and what is happening with Lee..."

She trailed off and there was a pause as Neji evaluated what she was saying, "I've noticed,"

"It's unfair on him," Tsukiko continued, "This fight isn't his problem, but it is becoming a problem for him,"

"And what am I meant to do about that?"

Tsukiko blinked.

 _'Ahh...?_ '

She really didn't think she would get this far so she had no idea what they could do about it. If she was being honest Gai-sensei was really only half the reason she had shown up at the branch family compound. The other half of it was that she really didn't hate him as much as she tried to convince herself to, and somehow that made everything feel fake, like it wasn't actually happening. She was still mad about what happened during the prelims and how he had tried to hurt Hinata, but Hinata held no ill will towards Neji or the branch family and so Tsukiko almost felt like she had no right to be mad. She had also threatened to kill him herself and after something like that Tsukiko wasn't sure where they stood.

All Tsukiko really wanted was to understand why, despite her plead not to, Neji still wanted to hurt Hinata. It wasn't really the fact that he had done it, but he had done it knowing how she felt about it. Maybe it was her own arrogance, but Tsukiko thought that she might have meant more to him than his hatred of the main family.

"What do you want from me?" Neji asked, no longer defensive, but rather curious, and Tsukiko only just caught onto the fact that she hadn't answered his previous question yet,

"I honestly don't know," It fell from her lips before she could stop it and Neji watched her from the doorway with a curious look that she couldn't quite read,

 _'Why am I even here?'_

 _'Because you don't want to lose him,'_ A tiny voice answered in the back of her mind and caught her by surprise,

 _'What's that supposed to mean?'_

"A truce?" Tsukiko offered after a drawn out moment of arguing with her own subconscious, more of a question to herself at first, not thinking it was a viable thing to ask for,

Neji nodded slowly, "I can accept a truce,"

"Wait, what?" Tsukiko was surprised and it showed in voice more than she meant it to, "Really?"

"If your the one offering it,"

"You mean you wouldn't have come to me to offer a truce?" Tsukiko questioned, slightly irritated that he would be so prideful,

"It's not that I wouldn't, it's that have no right to," Neji admitted sincerely, disarming her irritation, "I'm the 'one in the wrong' here, so calling a truce comes down to you,"

"You admit you're in the wrong?"

"No," He huffed a small sigh, but there was a hesitation that made Tsukiko question whether he actually did agree, "But I understand that you see it that way."

Tsukiko didn't know what to say to that and the conversation was travelling in a different direction that she had expected. She had thought he would have remained more defensive, that he would have shut the door on her as soon as she said something he didn't like. But it appeared he was willing to make the effort,

"My hatred of the main family was never directed at you," Neji continued when she didn't say anything, "You may be a part of that family, your loyalty to them proves that, but you are outside the traditions and the history which fuel that hatred. Even if you have chosen the main family-"

"I haven't chosen sides, my loyalty is not to the main family," Tsukiko said at last, cutting him off, "To me it's not about 'main family' and 'branch family', none of that means anything. That loyalty you speak of extends to very few within the main family and I don't care about the rest of them; hate them as much as you want. But it does extend to Team Gai and if we are talking about proof of loyalty then I'll remind you that I have killed and almost died to protect this team. You're all is just as important to me as Hinata is, and if this had all happened differently and Hinata had tried to kill you, Neji, then this whole situation would be reversed."

"What? You're saying you would get revenge on Hinata-sama if she killed me?"

"I'm saying I would never have hurt you," Tsukiko corrected, "Well... Not that badly anyway,"

"Lucky me?" Neji barked a bitter, sarcastic laugh,

She tilted her head and pulled a face at him, "You know what I mean,"

"Yes, I do..." He contemplated slowly, and Tsukiko guessed there was part of his sarcasm that was serious - her sparing revenge on someone who hurt Hinata would be a mercy given to very few people.

There was a silence between them as they both evaluated each others words. It was the first time Neji had accepted her as a part of the main family and that in itself was significant. He had once told her that he hated anyone involved with the main family, but it seems now that the idea he held had changed or maybe that was never true of how he felt to begin with. And Tsukiko had made it clear to him that she didn't hate him either.

It seemed half their conflict was mostly the result of their own bravado, neither wanting to back down.

But Tsukiko was also starting to understand that much of Neji's feelings towards her were conflicted; her position in the main family caused him to be cautious of her, and possibly envious that she was an outsider placed on equal ground as part of the main family, but while as a branch member he was in a subordinate position. But at the same time they were comrades and Tsukiko knew that after everything Team Gai had been through together it was impossible for him to truly hate her.

There was a lot left unsaid between them but Tsukiko felt it was a step in the right direction. Maybe she was right in thinking she meant more to him than his hatred for the main family.

"I'm going to take what you said as an apology," Tsukiko concluded finally, a lighter tone to her voice, "I didn't get an explicit 'I'm sorry', but I guess I can live with 'I don't hate you'. Now at least that way I know we are on the same page again,"

Neji raised an eyebrow, "Should I take that to mean 'I don't plan on killing you'?"

There was a light jest to his tone that made Tsukiko smile, she nodded and huffed a small laugh. It always caught her by surprise when he dropped his guard and he became less serious around her.

"Doesn't mean I'm not still going to kick your ass in the exam finals though," She teased back,

 _'I think... maybe we will be okay,'_

* * *

After leaving the branch family compound Tsukiko went to visit Lee in the hospital, picking up fresh flowers from Yamanaka florist on her way. She felt lighter now that she had spoken to Neji properly and she was glad she was able to bring herself to go talk to him. They had agreed to combine some of their training time with Gai-sensei together to take the strain off their teacher, but also keep training separately as eventually they would meet in the finals and wanted to keep some of their techniques secret until then. They had also agreed to reconvene later that afternoon as Tsukiko had plans to train with Gai-sensei and it as a good enough time as any to start training together again. Tsukiko hoped that she would find Gai-sensei while visiting Lee to tell him that she had spoken to Neji and as she entered through the main door to the hospital she kept an eye out for him.

As she made it up to the floor Lee was on Tsukiko did not see Gai, but instead came across Naruto who was also there to visit Lee. She greeted him and walked with him through the corridors towards Lee's room and she asked him how he felt about his match up against Neji. He told her he was going to avenge what happened to Hinata and that he did not fear losing to Neji. Tsukiko could help but smile hearing him vow this, there was something about the strange, energetic blond that made her want to cheer him on.

Back before the first test of the Chunin exams, when Tsukiko first heard his name, she couldn't remember why it sounded familiar to her. Since then she had remembered Hinabi teasing Hinata about the crush she had on the 'outcast boy' - Naruto - and Tsukiko had been interested in meeting him and in understanding what Hinata saw in him that Hinabi, and supposedly everyone else, couldn't see.

 _'So this is him, Hina-chan? The person who could motivate you to keep fighting... Who had more confidence in you than I could...'_

Along their way Tsukiko also learnt that his teacher Kakashi-sensei had taken to training Sasuke for the exam and Naruto had been passed off to Ebisu-sensei to train but he had found his own teacher, a pervert named Jiraiya. She subtly prodded him for information on Sasuke's curse mark but it appeared that Naruto didn't know anything about it and she silently noted that if she wanted information it would have to come from Sakura.

They drew closer to Lee's hospital room and Naruto opened the door into the last corridor and let Tsukiko through first. She was in the process of thanking him but trailed off as her attention was caught by a surge of killing intent coming from down the hall where Lee's room was. Dropping her flowers she broke into a run towards Lee's room and flung the door open, her attention trained on the third visitor in Lee's room,

"Gaara..." Tsukiko's voice lowered as she entered the room slowly, Naruto following closely behind, "What are you doing here?"

She circled towards him and stood at the side of Lee's bed, positioning herself between Gaara and Lee. Gaara didn't say anything but only watched her and Naruto come to stand in his way,

"Why are you here to kill bushy brow?" Naruto barked, just as angry as she was,

"No particular reason," Gaara mused, his voice deep and menacing and Tsukiko narrowed her eyes,

"You're at a disadvantage here," Tsukiko warned, pointing out that he was outnumbered, "We won't let you hurt him,"

"I'll just kill you both first,"

"You won your fight against Lee, it's over now, there is no need to kill him,"

"There is a need," Gaara corrected her, "He will die to prove that I exist,"

Tsukiko raised her head and frowned, confused by what he meant. Gaara moved ever so slightly forward and it was enough to set Tsukiko on edge and she extended a bone out from her wrist and held it at her side, not yet taking up a defensive stance, while Gaara spoke and explained his past.

He told them of a monster he had sealed inside him, a demon which gave him the power to control sand and kept him from sleeping as it required constant control to keep him in check. Gaara told them of the years he had spent repelling assassins sent by his own father to kill him and that he had come to understand that in his life, governed so fully by death, the only way to know his own existence was by killing others.

It was a story Tsukiko couldn't understand, she had no idea what he was talking about when he referred to a monster. Was it a metaphor for something? Or did he mean there was really something, some demon, sealed inside of him?

Tsukiko was about to speak up but before she could Naruto did,

"I understand that pain," He spoke sincerely, he offered no other explanation but the way Gaara appraised him made Tsukiko feel like they shared an unspoken understanding.

 _'This is bad though, this is not the sort of place where I can fight him... We outnumber him, but we're at a disadvantage here'_

Despite the apparent understanding Naruto and Gaara had come to it was not enough to dissuade Gaara from attacking them to get to Lee and sand from his gourde began to pour down.

Tsukiko raised her bone knife towards him, readying to fulfil the promise she made to Lee at the prelims to get revenge for what Gaara did, but before she could do anymore Gai-sensei was behind Gaara in a flash. Catching all three of them by surprise. Gaara turned his attention to Gai, knowing he was the greater risk.

"You need to leave," Gai-sensei warned, a heaviness to his tone of voice, "Now,"

Gaara seemed to understand that he was now really disadvantaged and the sand that had begun forming, ready to attack them, changed direction and swirled back around him.

"Next time... I'll kill you all..." Gaara warned and vanished in the swirl of sand.

* * *

After the altercation with Gaara Tsukiko was able to talk to Gai-sensei in the corridor outside Lee's room and explain what had happened earlier that morning with Neji. Gai seemed genuinely pleased by the progress but apologised and explained that he would have to cancel their training session after what had just happened to organise protection for Lee, as there was no guarantee that Gaara would not return again to kill him. Tsukiko understood and told him not to apologise, making sure Lee was safe was the priority.

When she met up with Neji later that afternoon at the training field she relayed the events of the hospital and Gai-sensei's apology but he also understood the importance of making sure Lee was protected while staying at the hospital. Tsukiko also learnt at this time that Neji had been to visit Lee at the hospital a couple of times during the week, but had purposely been during times when he knew she wouldn't be there to save their paths crossing accidentally.

They decided to train together anyway, without Gai being there, as they both had nothing else to do and Tsukiko challenged Neji to a sparring match straight off the bat and he accepted with a sly smirk and a promise that even if it was a friendly match he wasn't going to hold back,

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Tsukiko tossed back with laugh and she moved into position in the centre of the clearing, it had been a while since she had sparred against Neji and she was pleased to finally have the chance again.

She stood before him and took up her defensive stance just as he activated his Byakugan,

"Ready when you are?" Tsukiko asked when Neji didn't take up the stance of the gentle fist technique and he frowned at her,

"Why are you collecting you chakra like that?" He questioned, and slowly moved into his position,

"What?" Tsukiko questioned, having no idea what he was talking about and she frowned back at him. But he only shook his head and looked at her with an amused expression of 'I know what your doing', which only confused her more as she didn't even know what she was doing.

"Fine, don't tell me,"

Neji attacked first before she could question him more and Tsukiko kept out of his reach as much as she could as she attacked back focusing on reading his moves to test whether she could create a layer of bone just over the area he was going to land an attack, rather than wasting chakra growing a full shield layer over her entire body. She was also unsure whether her bone shield would also block the attack to the chakra path or only the physical impact - which wasn't worth blocking as that wasn't the part that did damage.

"Your attacks are slow," Neji mused, easily dodging them and Tsukiko narrowed her eyes at him and swung an elbow towards his head, he leant back easily to dodge it but she then extended the bone out and caught him with blunt force in the centre of the forehead. It was a light tap, but it was enough to make him take a step back and he clicked his tongue and rubbed a hand over it,

"You were saying?" Tsukiko laughed as he scowled at her, but there was no real anger in his expression,

Tsukiko extended a blunt bone from her leg, shaped like a long baton and repositioned herself back to her beginning defensive stance. She had barely manipulated any of her bones but she already felt to be lower on chakra than she should have been. Tsukiko swung her baton at Neji and the length of it meant she was able to keep him at a far enough distance that he couldn't reach her with his attacks. She quickly noticed that most of his attacks her aimed towards her right side and the arm which she mainly attacked with. At first Tsukiko thought that his intention was to prevent her from using her baton, but even after she changed tactics and using the finger bones of her left hand his attention stayed focused on her right arm.

Tsukiko decided to use the opportunity to test whether her bone shield would block the gentle fist technique. She grew a section of bone right up the length of her forearm just underneath the first layer of skin. It took concentration and most of her remaining chakra to do it and afterwards her arm felt heavy and slow, so it was easy for Neji to gain an opening to land a strike on her wrist, just above where Orochimaru's curse mark had been placed.

There was a light cracking sound and both Neji and Tsukiko winced and swore.

 _'Guess that answers whether I can block gentle fist...'_

Tsukiko turned her back to Neji as she took off her glove which covered her forearm. She had had the chakra cut off a number of times before now, whether by Neji or by Hinata or Hinabi, but it never hurt as much as it did at that moment. Tsukiko could see the bone layer under the skin, which she presumed had just broken one of Neji's fingers, but her attention was more focused on the diamond shaped curse mark on her arm. The veins around the mark had again become darker in colour and raised under the skin and now that chakra was no longer flowing to it Tsukiko realised that it had actually been hurting, though she had become accustomed to the sensation she hadn't noticed it. She ran a thumb over it as the pain of having the chakra cut off began to subside.

 _'What was that mark doing? Was that what Neji was talking about... Collecting chakra?'_

Tsukiko rolled her glove back up her arm to hide the mark again as she turned her attention back to Neji,

"You okay?" She questioned, examining his hand from a distance and noticing his index finger appeared to be off centred,

"I think... It's dislocated," Neji raised his hand slowly towards her and Tsukiko took it as an invitation to have a closer look,

"Dislocation of the proximal interphalangeal joint," She explained, an ease and naturalness in her voice, "Closed reduction will correct it, I can do it if you like?"

There was a silence where Neji didn't answer,

"What?" Tsukiko questioned indignantly at Neji when he raised an eyebrow at her knowing that, "Bones are my thing. Do you want me to realign it or not?"

Neji seemed cautious but allowed her to lead him to sit down on a low log and she knelt in front of him and examined the finger properly,

"Do you know what you're doing? Have you done this before?"

"Bones are my thing," She reiterated coolly, as she prepared to correct the bone, and just as she was about to begin she glanced up at him, "But I've actually never done this before, something might go wrong,"

There was a split second where true fear flickered in Neji's eye and Tsukiko grinned wickedly as she began the realignment.

It was a simply enough process and Tsukiko really did know what she was doing, despite it being the first time she had put the knowledge into practise, and she did everything correctly and the realignment was a success. She never actually doubted she could do it but telling him that and seeing the moment of fear on his face was worth it.

Tsukiko sat back on the grass and laughed as she told him this but Neji only scowled at her, though again there was no real annoyance in his eye,

"Come on," She said finally standing up and holding a hand out to help him stand, "Let's go to the hospital, they will want to splint that,"

Neji accepted her help reluctantly and took her hand in his non-injured one and she pulled lightly to help him to his feet.

Tsukiko realised just how easily they had both gone back to how things were between them before they fought during the prelims. She had almost forgotten that just that morning she was meant to have hated him, and to her that only showed that she hadn't been able to really be angry at him. She guessed that for Neji it must have been the same as well, otherwise he wouldn't have been so unguarded with her. That was how she preferred it. Simple, easy, when there was no mission stress, no main family or branch family, no real conflict and only friendly rivalry.

 _'This is how I want things to be...'_

"Does it hurt much?" Tsukiko asked as they began walking,

"Not so much now that it is back in in place," Neji evaluated as he held his hand out before him to frown at his injured finger.

He hesitated for a second, wanting to say more,

"So... Thank you," Neji told her simply and sincerely and it caught her completely off guard. She stopped walking and raised her head to look at him, eyebrows raised in surprise,

Neji walked ahead a few more steps before he stopped, realising she wasn't beside him anymore,

"You're welcome," Tsukiko returned just as simply and as she caught Neji's eye she smiled, he held her eye for a drawn out moment before he nodded firmly and turned his heel to keep walking. Tsukiko jogged lightly to catch back up and as she fell into step beside him she looked up at him and watched him closely. His head was turned away from her again, the way he always did when she made him uncomfortable, but it wasn't quite far enough that Tsukiko didn't catch the slight pink blush to his cheek.

* * *

 **NEXT TIME-  
** Chapter 13: _"I'll be back before anyone even knows I'm gone"_


	16. CHAPTER 13: Chunin Exams Arc, Part 8

CHAPTER 13:  
"I'll be back before anyone even knows I'm gone"

* * *

As a result of having the chakra in her arm cut off the previous week, Tsukiko now began to feel the pain of the curse mark and she could feel it draining her chakra gradually all the time. On occasion the amount of chakra she would lose would influx for a small while, less than an hour, and Tsukiko would find that she was incredibly tired during that time. If she fell asleep, which she usually couldn't help doing, she would end up having the strangest dreams of dimly lit, narrow corridors, rooms of medical equipment, and piercing green eyes reflected back watching her. Nothing about them were coherent in sequence and everything only came is blurry images which seemed to last only a few seconds, but then she would wake up again and an hour would have passed. She couldn't shake the feeling that somehow the mark on her arm connected her to _'that person'_ Orochimaru referred to.

It had only happened a couple of times and Tsukiko was able to explain her tiredness as a result of training so hard but Neji was able to see the flow of her chakra draining towards her wrist and she had no way of explaining why that was happening. She grew concerned that eventually Gai-sensei would too start asking questions.

Tsukiko had spent the morning training with Gai-sensei and they focused on how Tsukiko would go about fighting a match against Shikamaru if he won against Temari. She had managed to train without exhausting her chakra levels or drawing attention to the fact that she had less control over her chakra. All in all the training had been good and she knew better how she would go about her match if she was to fight against Shikamaru. But now that she was back home at the Hyuuga compound Tsukiko could feel the increase of chakra draining from her body and she gave into her tiredness and slept outside in the inner courtyard with a book in her lap - though she never even had the chance to open the cover before she had fallen asleep.

Her dream was different to normal. There were no dark corridors or small rooms, this time she was outside in among a forests trees and somewhere beside her she could hear the sound of running water. Like always, she had no control over her actions and the body she was contained in walked slowly and heavily towards an area where the trees ahead seemed to thin into an open space. The scene began to blur away but when everything came back into focus she hadn't gone anywhere else, but was instead standing in the open space which she could see before, which turned out to be a cliff edge and the running water she heard was a waterfall. Tsukiko was able to make out a face that was sculpted into the earth on the other side of the top of the waterfall and though her head never turned fully to get a better she knew she had seen a picture of that place before. The scene faded again and she was moved back into the forest where they appeared to be following a small blue bird which flew ahead of them at a distance. It appeared to be leading them somewhere. She could still hear the waterfall, which was now behind her, and Tsukiko knew that this was a coherent sequence of events that was happening right at that moment,

She was in the mind of _'that person_ '...

Tsukiko awoke with a start and Hinata peered down at her with wide eyes and in just as much shock as Tsukiko was.

"Neechan..." Hinata placed a hand on her shoulder, looking scared and concerned, "Are you okay?"

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine," Tsukiko croaked out and she coughed to clear her voice, "What's wrong?"

Hinata didn't answer but searched her face, seeming to find something in the expression Tsukiko wore. Tsukiko prompt her again, "Hina-chan? What is it?"

"I guess... It's nothing," Hinata said finally the fear and worry fading slightly from her face, but Tsukiko could sense there was more to what she wanted to say,

"I'm fine," Tsukiko insisted, not wanting to see her sister so worried about her, and she smiled and patted Hinata's hand which was still on her shoulder, "Thank you, but you don't need to worry about me,"

Hinata smiled back softly and seemed to be put at ease, "You seemed to be having a nightmare though,"

Hearing this surprised Tsukiko, the dream wasn't scary or anything,

"Really? I don't remember dreaming of anything," Tsukiko lied, and Hinata seemed to accept it.

Tsukiko turned her attention back to the sculptures in the cliff face that she had seen in her dream, though maybe they were more visions than dreams. She heaved herself up off the ground, feeling slightly weak and sore from the awkward position she had fallen asleep in, and asked Hinata if she would come help her look through her piles of books for one about historical landmarks. Hinata agreed, slightly surprised by the sudden change in direction of the conversation and hurried to follow Tsukiko as she lead the way to her room.

As they both began looking Tsukiko was pleased she asked for help in her search as there were a number of books to sort through. When she was younger and still at the Academy Tsukiko used to keep them all stacked in a perfectly organised system - to other people it was a chaotic mess - but to her everything had it's place and she knew exactly where everything was. However, since graduating they had lost their organisation and were simply stacked where ever they would fit as she had no time to sort them anymore. The piles made a small woven pathway to the far corner of the room where there was a small enclave space created where she could sit, read and fall asleep, lost in the mass of books.

"Neechan, you need to organise these better or throw some away," Hinata complained after a while of searching, her voice disembodied as Tsukiko could not see her behind the piles of books,

"No!" Tsukiko exclaimed, a mock indignation to her voice, "They are precious me, I can't throw them away!"

Hinata laughed softly, "One day you will have no room in here to move around,"

"One day, and it will be a good day," Tsukiko laughed back, pulling a book down that sounded like it might have what she needed and flicking through. She turned the conversation back to the task at hand, "Found anything about locations or landmarks of Konoha?"

"I found a couple of books, I made a little pile here," Hinata told her, "But I don't know what specifically you are looking for? You said it was a waterfall?"

"Yeah, with carving made in the cliffs" Tsukiko mumbled as she stood up to collect the books Hinata had collected, "I just can't remember exactly what it was,"

Hinata handed them over and followed Tsukiko to the small table which, beside her bed, was the only other piece of furniture in the room. She began flicking through them as Hinata stretched her legs which had grown tired from kneeling in front of book piles for so long.

"HA!" Tsukiko exclaimed, tapping a page rapidly and the sudden noise caused Hinata to jump, "This is what I was looking for; 'The Valley of the End'"

Hinata leaned up to look at the page and Tsukiko pushed it over to her,

"We learnt about that at the Academy," Tsukiko explained as she flitted about the room looking for another book, a collection of detailed maps of the Land of Fire which she seen when she was looking for the other books, and when she found it again she brought it back to the table flicking through it to find the location of the Valley of the End, "Well not about that place, but about that fight that happened there, right?"

"Yes, I remember that," Hinata agreed and turned her attention to the map, pointing out the location of the waterfall to Tsukiko who still couldn't see it.

"That's not actually that far from here," Tsukiko mused to herself, calculating how long she thought it would take to get there and then checking the time. She got up and loitered in the doorway to her room, looking out across the courtyard thinking, and Hinata could see where her train of thought was heading,

"Are you planning on going there?" Hinata asked hesitantly, "You... You can't just-"

"I'm going," She stated emphatically, cutting Hinata off as she tried to dissuade her, "It's not that far, ill be back before anyone even knows I'm gone."

"Why? What is there that is so important?"

Tsukiko didn't answer, she didn't know how to answer, and instead turned her attention to packing the map book into a shoulder bag, she folded a light jacket and tucked it in as well,

"Are you going to ask-"

"Nope," Tsukiko knew what she was going to ask, "If Hiashi-sama knows he wont let me leave because it's not an official mission and I'm meant to be focusing on training for the exam. So, as long as he doesn't find out..."

Tsukiko paused her packing, tilted her head at Hinata, as she was the only person who would be able to tell him what she was planning, and Hinata became flustered.

"I-I don't... I don't think-"

"I know it's probably not a good idea, but it will be fine," She again predicted that Hinata was going to say it's a bad idea, "Don't cover for me, okay, 'cause you will only get in trouble too. But if someone does ask where I am..."

"Then... The last time I saw you, you were asleep in the courtyard," Hinata nodded slowly,

"Very good," Tsukiko smiled, taking her attention away from packing her bag, "But no one will ask because I'll be back right away. It will all be fine,"

* * *

Tsukiko ignored all of Hinata's warnings that leaving the village alone and without permission was a bad idea. But if ' _that person_ ' she was connected to was somewhere nearby then she wasn't going to let the opportunity to find them pass by. If she was being honest with herself though, she didn't think she would be able to catch up to them anyway. Tracking, in general, wasn't her specialty and she didn't have Byakugan or a strong sense of smell or hearing to be able to track someone - and even if she did she wasn't sure she would be able to catch up to them and get close enough to spot their trail.

It was really a hopeless mission, but Tsukiko had to do it anyway, this was the first lead she had to understanding the mark on her arm and her connection to Orochimaru and ' _that person_ '.

It took about 4 hours to travel to The Valley of the End from Konoha and that already put her 5 hours behind the person who appeared in her dreams. She stood at the top of the cliff face where she had been standing in her dream and tried to gather her bearings and figure out where she was. She crouched down and looked over the map book which she had brought with her and tried to establish her next move. If she was correct in thinking that during the first part of the dream she had been in the trees further to the south and had travelled north to get to the cliff area, then it would make sense that during the last part they had continued traveling in a northward direction and that was why the sound of water moved behind her. That theory made more sense to Tsukiko than the alternative, which was that they had turned around again and travelled back the way they had come.

Tsukiko crossed the river to the other side of the forest and began her search through the trees looking for any sign of human life or small blue birds which may inhabit the area. She guessed she had a couple of hours to look around before she had to head back to Konoha or she would risk getting found out by Hiashi or making Hinata worry that something bad had happened to her. She stayed on the ground and kept her pace only to a walk, guessing the person who she sought would have done the same, but when after about an hour of aimless wandering she found nothing of interest she decided to climb to the tree tops to gain a better vantage point. In the far distance Tsukiko could see the river which she had crossed but apart from that there was little else to see but the tops of trees surrounding her. She began to question whether she should save herself anymore pointless searching and just turn back to Konoha when a small flit of blue caught her eye.

It was a bird. A small blue bird like the one she had seen in her dream.

Tsukiko marvelled at it and followed its movements as it descended down from above the tree canopy into the branches. She lost sight of it for a moment as it was hidden in the leaves but when she found it again she began to follow as it flew from branches, stopping occasionally to peck at berry bundles.

 _'Where are you going, little friend?'_

There appeared to be no reason behind its flight pattern and, unlike in her dream, this bird did not seem to be leading her anywhere. Despite this Tsukiko continued pursuing the bird, her focus intent on not losing it. And it was because of this that she didn't take notice of the substantial crack in the branch that she jumped on to. Her weight landing on it was enough to turn the crack into a complete breakage and she fell, along with it, to the dirt below.

Tsukiko landed heavily on her ankle and if she had been anyone with a normal bone composition she was sure it would have broken the bones in her leg and foot, possibly in a number of places. But just because the bones couldn't break didn't mean it didn't hurt, and as Tsukiko examined herself of the damage she knew that she had definitely damaged the muscles and tendons.

On top of it all, the unexpected noise had startled the bird and it had now flown away.

 _'Great...Just great...'_

Standing back up Tsukiko tentatively put weight onto her ankle and found that while it could still support some of her weight it hurt tremendously too rely on it too much. Using the broken branch as a crutch to relieve some of the pressure of walking on it she was able to limp forward at a reasonably good pace without causing too much strain.

Tsukiko decided now that continuing her foolish mission to chase after a person she had never met was a bad idea and accepted that Hinata was right in thinking that even starting the mission was a bad idea.

Tsukiko began her walk back the way she came, defeated and dreading the fact that she still had hours of walking to go before she made it back to Konoha. But at least she had tried. Who ever this person was, what ever the reason behind the curse mark, she would find out eventually.

An hour into her walk back Tsukiko began to feel the increase in draining chakra and was both annoyed and concerned. Never before had the influx happened two consecutive days in a row, let alone twice in one day and Tsukiko knew she didn't have the time to fall asleep for an hour if she wanted to make it back to Konoha before nightfall with her injured ankle. She decided she would have to struggle through it and continue walking despite the exhaustion what would come with forcing herself to stay awake while having such little chakra.

Struggling through it proved to be an impossible task and after only a few minutes, and a few hobbled steps, Tsukiko fell forward unable to support herself and she never felt the impact of landing in the dirt as she was fast asleep.

In her dream Tsukiko was again outside and was sitting perched on a rock surrounded by four other people, all dressed in Otagakure attire, who seemed to be watching her with varying levels of concern and fear in their eyes. No one said anything, or seemed to want to say anything, but their attention was still focused on the person whose mind Tsukiko was in. The scene faded and changed and they were now walking. Tsukiko could hear the footsteps of the others behind her and they appeared to be following. Tsukiko guessed that whoever's mind she was in he was some sort of leader of theirs. As they trudged along their footsteps were heavy and slow and their attention moved to their arm and he thumbed across a small black diamond mark on his wrist where the veins were raised and dark.

It was the same as hers. This confirmed for Tsukiko that they were connected and she suspected that the chakra she lost was being transferred to him through the mark.

 _'But is simply walking really that draining for him? Why would they need my chakra now?'_

The scene began to blur again and standing at the entrance to what appeared to be a cave Kabuto was waiting for them. As they drew closer Tsukiko was intrigued by what was going to happen next but already the scene began to fade away.

 _'No... Not yet. I need to know more...'_

* * *

The next thing Tsukiko knew was that she was cold, everything was dark, and her ankle hurt. She was no longer in a dream.

She pushed up off the ground so she was no longer lying face first in the dirt and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. The sun hadn't yet set but Tsukiko knew it wasn't far off and that she had been asleep a lot longer than the usual hour. She felt a slight panic as she realised that there was no way she was going to make it back to the village before Hiashi realised she had left.

 _'Oh this is bad... Very bad...'_

Tsukiko got to her feet cautiously, putting as little weight on her sore foot, and brushed her self off. She picked up her makeshift crutch and looked around for her bag which was... Gone?

She spun around a couple of times confused about where it could have dropped when she collapsed, but there was no sign of it near her. She extended her search and began looking further away from her and a few metres away from her she spotted her map book, which last thing she knew had been tucked safely inside the bag.

 _'What the...? How did it get over there?'_

As Tsukiko picked it up she swept the dirt off it and checked it for damage but it seemed to be in the same condition it had always been in. She continued to look around and further ahead she found the jacket she had packed, and beyond that was a small container which had been packed into the front pocket of her bag. Tsukiko put on the jacket and stuffed her items into her pockets as she followed the short trail of items which had all been in the bag until she eventually found the now empty bag discarded further ahead.

Tsukiko had already begun to question whether this all was some sort of ambush attack, but the idea seemed strange to her because if they really planned to attack her they could have easily done it when she was unconscious.

 _'Just what's going on here?'_

She cautiously closed in on her empty bag and reached down towards it to pick it up, the strap was right within her reach, but as she made that final move toward it... the whole bag moved out of reach. In the blink of an eye the bag bounded forward a few steps out of her reach and Tsukiko didn't know what shocked her more, the fact the bag moved on its own, or the speed of which it happened, and she was left simply staring dumbstruck as her bag continued to rustle a few steps away from her.

Without really thinking Tsukiko followed after it but each time she made to pick it up it bounced out of her reach and in the end she was running to chase after it, ignoring the pain of her protesting ankle.

 _'What that hell is happening? Is someone playing a game?'_

Tsukiko chased it in circles for a long while until she worked up a decent sweat and was almost in tears due to the pain in her ankle.

 _'THIS IS REDICULOUS! IM NOT DOING THIS ANYMORE!'_

Tsukiko was angry and she lashed out and struck for her bag with her finger bones as a whip, swooping the whole thing up in a tight grip. It was with this action and the strangled cry that came from inside the bag that made her realise that there was something inside it. In her surprised Tsukiko dropped the bag and out squirmed a tiny orange ball of fluff, its fur standing on edge as it attempted to yap at her, seemingly angry about being forced out from the bag, but the sound made was barely more than whisper.

 _'Is that... A fox? It must only be a pup...'_

Tsukiko and the small fox stared at each other for a drawn out moment, both equally scared of each other and then it turned tail and fled away from her at a speed far too quick for such tiny legs,

"Ah? Wait!" Tsukiko called after it and again began chasing, though not quite sure why now that she had gained all of her belonging.

Tsukiko was completely unable to keep up, even if her ankle wasn't injured she wouldn't have been able to, and she soon lost sight of the fox as it weaved in and out of the trees and vanished into the distance. Although she continued following after a little while Tsukiko was forced to stop and rest her ankle, which she guessed was now very swollen, but didn't want to take off her boot to check. Just in case she couldn't get it back on. She leant heavily against a tree trunk and if she was being honest she felt silly and had no idea what she hoped to accomplish in chasing the poor wild animal.

Now that she had stopped moving and her own footsteps weren't the only thing she could hear, Tsukiko began to hear a faint whine in the distance.

 _'The fox?'_

She debated with herself whether to continue her pointless pursuit or just turn back but her curiosity won out and Tsukiko quietly crept towards the sound of the crying animal not wishing to startle it any more than she already had. As she drew closer Tsukiko discovered that she was right in thinking it was the same tiny fox and they had become trapped in a rope net and were suspended above the ground. Tsukiko rushed over to help them and as the fox seen her approaching they began to stress even more, their crying becoming more frightened and higher in pitch. Tsukiko slowed her pace and held her arms up in caution,

"Shhhhh... Its okay," Tsukiko soothed gently, "Its okay, I'm going to help you."

As she closed in slowly she quietly told the small creature that she wasn't going to hurt them, keeping her voice light and calm. She used her finger bones to cut the rope that hung the trap up and then gently lowered the fox back onto the ground. They panicked feeling the ground beneath them and struggled to get to their feet to run away, still bound in the rope net. Tsukiko gently held them in place with her bones as she came to kneel in front of the fox and slowly reached out towards them. The fox growled angrily, but it was a weak, strangled sound and to Tsukiko it wasn't particularly menacing,

"Oh, stop that," Tsukiko grumbled softly and she held her hand close to the fox but not quite touching them or the rope that trapped them until the fox stopped growling, "It's okay. You're okay,"

The tiny fox stared her in the eye and Tsukiko didn't break eye contact as she edged her hand closer slightly, "I'm not going to hurt you, let me help."

The fox seemed to understand and hesitantly drew closer to sniff her hand, flinching as it came into contact with the edge of her pinky finger. Tsukiko couldn't help but smile at the progress and she gently moved her hand to stroke under the foxes chin and while they seemed cautious at first and seemed to pull away, they didn't quite reject her touch.

"Now... I'm just going to..." Tsukiko quickly cut the rope in a sharp movement while the fox was calmed, but the sudden, unexpected movement startled them and they bounded away from her again. In their haste to get away they managed to untangled themselves from the rope and the fox seemed just as surprised by their sudden freedom as Tsukiko was. Now free, the fox kept their distance from her but they didn't yet run away and only shook out their fur which had become messy and displaced from being tied up.

Tsukiko sat back and outstretched her injured leg and her movement again startled the fox. She slowed her movement down and decided it was a good enough time as any to remove her boot to inspect her ankle. Just as she had expected it was rather badly swollen from all the running and dark purple bruising had already started to appear. She gently prodded at the discoloured skin and while it looked bad it wasn't too painful to touch.

From about a meter away the tiny fox which she had just saved watched her with cautious eyes and with their body pressed closely to the ground they crept ever so slowly closer. Tsukiko didn't move towards it or make any abrupt movements to startle the creature and after about half an hour of quiet waiting the fox had come right over to her to inspect her properly. The fox flinched and jumped back slightly when Tsukiko raised a hand towards them but quickly came back and allowed her to stroke their head and neck. She discovered that sections of fur around their neck and under their chin was thin and Tsukiko could feel scaring on their skin.

 _'You've been in trouble before haven't you, little one?'_

It was a strange, curious little fox and Tsukiko was surprised how easily it had taken to her, and how easily she was taken with them. It began to grow dark around them and Tsukiko barely realised, her attention so focused on the small little bundle of fur that bounded around her excitedly and nudged her eagerly for pats and attention. But when she realised it had gotten darker the realisation that she couldn't make it back to the village until the next day sunk in and she realised how much trouble she was going to be in. She pushed that anxiety to the side, deciding she will worry about that tomorrow, and instead focused on the other worry that was making her anxious: she was going to have to sleep alone in the wilderness. Tsukiko had first discovered on Team Gai's trip to Suna that she wasn't too fond of sleeping outside and in the year since this fear had not faded at all. Even with her team there with her she could never sleep well and Tsukiko was unsure how she was going to handle being completely alone.

 _'Simple enough... I can do this... I'm fine.'_

Eventually she curled up to sleep, guessing that she probably wouldn't be able to anyway, and the tiny fox moved with her and came to worm itself into a small space between her arm and tucked under her chin. And much to Tsukiko's surprise, though she didn't realise it at the time, she fell straight into a calm and restful sleep.

Tsukiko awoke hours later, shocked and amazed that she actually slept, with the morning sun shining into her face. She rubbed the sleep from them and as she sat up she discovered that the ground she slept on was no longer cold, hard dirt but rather she was warm, comfortable, and surrounded by a pure white fluff which was soft and silky to the touch. At first she didn't seem to take much notice, barely recognising the situation she was in, but when the shock kicked in she quickly jumped to her feet and stumbled away from the bed of white which was on, moving to the grass which she could see a few steps away.

In her haste she put too much weight on her ankle and yelped as it gave way unable to support her. As Tsukiko fell she closed her eyes and prepared for the impact of landing on the grass, but when the impact never came when she opened her eyes again. She had landed back in the white bed, which had not been there before, but had moved to catch her fall. Tsukiko slowly rolled over, cautious about the white bed beneath her and properly look in her surroundings. The bed of white was expansive and it stretched up into a high mound before her and as Tsukiko moved to stand up again a voice from mound cautioned her,

"Stand carefully, Human," A deep, clear voice warned, "Your mewling will wake the others,"

Tsukiko glanced around, searching the large mound for the source of the voice, but from what she could see there was no one else around.

"Who said that?" Tsukiko finally responded when she finally got to her feet.

No answer came at first but very slowly the white mound of white fluff began to move before her. Two large red eyes opened and stared down at her and a face rose up to distinguish itself,

"I did," They answered, and everything began to reveal itself to Tsukiko.

The white hill before her was not just a bed of white fluff... It was fur. Fur belonging to a very large fox who was able to speak to her.

* * *

 **NEXT TIME-**  
Chapter 14: _"A contract..."_


	17. CHAPTER 14: Chunin Exams Arc, Part 9

CHAPTER 14:  
"A contract..."

* * *

In the past few hours since she awoke in the foxes den Tsukiko learnt a lot of things. She learnt that Yui, the tiny orange fox she had rescued the previous day, belonged with the foxes who live hidden, in secret, in a place they call Shinoda Forest. Yui had her throat crushed when she was just a new born pup and was mostly mute from the injuries she sustained and that is why, unlike the other foxes of her pack, she was unable to talk.

That part, however, was the most significant thing she learnt. That these foxes of Shinoda could talk.

The oldest and greatest of their kind was Kuzunoha, the large, pure white fox who had allowed Tsukiko into her den in gratitude for saving Yui. It was from her that Tsukiko had learnt about them. Kuzunoha explained to her that they were long ago taught how to communicate with humans and were instructed in the ways of ninjutsu. Humans and foxes were once great allies and they shared a deep respect and understanding of one another. But that was during a time of peace, an age that soon passed, and as the years faded and wars raged their communication with humans only brought them death, their shared respect vanished and to humans they became just another weapon used to further their own strength.

That was why they retreated to Shinoda Forest, all those years ago, and there remained hidden from humans.

"So why now?" Tsukiko asked as she sat in the long grass talking to Kuzunoha, Yui slunk along nearby stalking mice which weren't that much smaller than herself, "Why did you allow me to be brought here?"

Kuzunoha didn't answer straight away and she seemed to contemplate her answer.

"Yui is rather taken with you," Kuzunoha mused, "I told you how she lost her voice, but what I didn't tell you was that the predator responsible was human,"

"Then... wouldn't that make you more suspicious of humans?"

"Maybe? Except you proved yourself to be different," Kuzunoha swished her tail towards where Yui was hunting and the gust of wind created blew the grass flat and startled the mice into running and Yui broke into a pouncing sprint as she chased after them.

"And that is enough for you to want to create a contract with me?"

Kuzunoha had proposed the idea to Tsukiko earlier that morning after talking to her for some time. The contract would allow Tsukiko to summon them to her to aid her in what she needed. Though the idea had caught with her Tsukiko was still cautious, she was a ninja and that violent life which they had spent years escaping was, exactly, her life.

"It is not the conflict we retreated from; it was the unbalance," Kuzunoha explained, understanding where her caution stemmed from, "We had respect for them, while they had no respect for us. We were willing to protect them, while they weren't willing to protect us. We were willing to learn about their world, while they weren't willing to be taught about ours. Without balance nothing could work,"

Tsukiko sat and thought over what Kuzunoha said and she did not press her for answers or interrupt her thought.

"And you think I can offer you this balance?" She asked finally, still uncertain.

"I believe you can," Kuzunoha agreed, "You saved Yui despite the fact you got nothing in return, that shows you are willing to protect. You have listened when I have asked, that shows you have respect and has shown you are also willing to learn,"

She spoke slowly, in a way that made every word she spoke deliberate and full of meaning. In the hours Tsukiko had spent with Kuzunoha she had come to understand why she is the greatest among her kind. It was not just in mere stature, but in the way she spoke and carried herself, that demonstrated to Tsukiko just how wise and authoritative she was. The other foxes who were awake during the daytime all bowed in respect to her and were formal when they spoke to her. They also showed to be cautious of Tsukiko, but her being in Kuzunoha's presence made them accepting of her. That was the power she had, that even though they were solitary creatures she still was respected as a leader, and Tsukiko didn't doubt she was feared in the same respect.

"Stay here," Kuzunoha continued after a long pause where neither of them spoke, "Just for a little while. Teach us and be taught by us, then make your decision. But know, that if you decide to leave this place, then it will probably be the first and last time you will set foot in Shinoda Forest,"

Tsukiko watched Yui across the open clearing as she bounded in leaps, with great speed, chasing rodents. Already something told her that if she were to leave and never see that mischievous, energetic ball of fur again she would regret it. It was strange how in such a short amount of time she had become so taken with Yui, and with Kuzunoha and Shinoda Forest as well.

"I really don't have the time to stay," Tsukiko told her apologetically, "Already I have been away from my village, from my family, for too long. They will be worried about me, and I'm already going to be in a lot of trouble when I return,"

"I understand-"

"But I want to stay anyway, if only for a couple of days. It doesn't feel right to leave yet,"

"You have made a wise decision, Tsukiko," Kuzunoha seemed pleased and she stood up, her large stature casting a shadow over the clearing and catching Yui's attention away from the mice, "After many years of solitude there is much to teach and much to be taught. If we only have a few days then let us not waste them. Come along, human child."

* * *

When the foxes talked about balance they meant a balance of all things; of light and darkness, of life and death, of day and night, of the body and the mind, of yin chakra and yang chakra, and of the balancing of each as their own separate entity. To the foxes this balance was the most important thing and it was the main concept Tsukiko was to learn while she was with them.

Under the training of Yasuna, the mate of Kuzunoha, Tsukiko learnt to balance herself both physically and mentally. The physical training she found wasn't overly challenging, having trained harder with Gai-sensei in the past. It involved breathing exercises, standing stationary for long periods of time, balancing on thin poles and ropes suspended in the air, and eventually, after all the lead up training, she was able to learn ninjutsu combinations with the foxes who one day Tsukiko might be able to summon. Their techniques were Yin and Yang release abilities and it was a different pace of training that Tsukiko wasn't used to and she welcomed it and eagerly took in everything that she was taught.

It was the mental and emotional balance that Tsukiko had difficulties training. Her training in Konoha had taught her to supress unnecessary emotion and to remain clear headed. With her already repressed childhood memories Tsukiko found it easy to keep her emotions in check and to supress them, however her training with Yasuna needed her to revaluate all the things she had learnt. She needed to balance her positive emotions, thoughts and memories with the negative ones and that involved sifting though things she had long ago supressed or filed away in her memory as something unnecessary. It was a draining experience, but it was one Yasuna insisted was even more important that the physical balance.

Tsukiko had already spent six days in Shinoda training with the foxes, which was a lot more time away from the village than she would have liked, and had still been unable to master the final part of her emotional balance training. She made the decision that she was out of time and would have to leave for Konoha the next morning, whether or not she completed her final training.

She sat cross-legged at the top of a tall hill and Yasuna sat before her at the bottom, his height, though not as great as Kuzunoha, made them positioned eye to eye with each other. Tsukiko's eyes were closed and she was lost in a genjutsu cast by Yasuna which forced her into confrontation with memories from her past - the ones they could access at least. All she had to do was analyse them and come to terms with their reality, honestly accepting how the memory affected her and her feelings towards it. But it was a lot harder than it sounded and every time she denied her feelings or refused to accept the memory affected her it would break the genjutsu and she would be forced to start again.

Some memories were easier to analyse than others. Memories with Hinata and Hinabi, the celebration of her first year living in Konoha and her ninth birthday, graduating the academy, missions with Team Gai; these were all good memories. The first time a Hyuuga Clan member openly expressed they despised her presence, fighting with her peers at the Academy, being scolded by Hiashi; these were not good memories. But with all of them Tsukiko was able to understand her feelings towards them. Other memories such as her fight against Hori, meeting Orochimaru and watching Neji almost kill Hinata, these weren't so clear cut and as she analysed their affect on her she would find the genjutsu would break, indicating her deceit.

"I can't do this anymore," Tsukiko sighed, completely exhausted as she broke the genjutsu yet again, she uncrossed her legs and flopped backwards, spreading her arms wide, "This is pointless. I know how I feel but it keeps breaking like I'm wrong,"

"Maybe your not wrong," Yasuna agreed, calm and soothingly, "But your not right either. That is how this works, you may be recognising one truth of how you feel but you're also ignoring another truth. It is easy to balance things as either good or bad, positive or negative. But sometimes you have to balance them as both positive and negative respectively, and that is a harder task,"

"I'm not ignoring any truth though," She grumbled, having already heard Yasuna explain this before,

"Tsukiko-"

"I need a break, I'm exhausted."

"After one more try," Yasuna insisted and hesitantly she agreed.

Tsukiko sat back up and crossed her legs, stretching her back and neck as she did so. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, waiting for the waves of memory to start flooding in again.

The first memory Tsukiko revisited was of when she was still 8 years old and had been living in Konoha only a few months. She was laying on her bed reading a book, it was the first book she had been given and it was the catalyst that would trigger almost 5 years of obsessive book collecting. As she watched her younger self read Hinata tentatively appeared at the door and came to sit with her. Tsukiko knew the memory well, and she knew that she would read that book aloud to Hinata for the next hour until they both fell asleep. It was a good memory, nostalgic, and it made her miss her sister having been away for so long.

The dream faded and Tsukiko was then watching herself tend to a wound on Lee's leg. It was during one of their first team missions and they had been just outside the village to collect and then deliver an important document to the Hokage's office. Lee had been injured trying to complete some silly training exercise he randomly thought up and Neji had become annoyed at him for slowing them down. Tsukiko knew that after she had bound his leg he was grateful to her for her kindness and he had said to her, "I'm really glad you're on our team". It was also a good memory, it was the first time anyone had ever really said something like that to her.

Again the dream faded and Tsukiko was in Ebisu-sensei's office at the Academy. Ebisu watched the younger Tsukiko with concern and sadness in his eye as he scolded her, yet again, for fighting with her classmates. Her younger self grew frustrated and upset at his words and began yelling back over him. Tsukiko remembered the outburst. She had felt it was unfair that she was always the only one getting in trouble for the fights when she was never the one to start them. Her outburst had ended after she lashed out broke a window and Hiashi came to collect her. She had only felt guilty after that. It wasn't a good memory and Tsukiko could still remember the shame and anger that she felt that day.

That dream vanished and Tsukiko's younger self was sitting at a low table in the room Team Gai had stayed in while in Sunagakure. Neji sat in front of her and Tsukiko watched as her younger self held chopsticks out for him. He was defiant and unwilling to accept her help at first, but after a little while he seemed to give in to her. It was a good memory, one that hadn't yet appeared while going through them all in the genjutsu. It had just been the two of them for most of the day and Tsukiko had really enjoyed it. After everything that had happened the previous day Tsukiko had felt closer to him that day and it was a change as he usually felt so distant.

When that dream changed Tsukiko was in the Forest of Death again, staring down Orochimaru as he hid in the trees, the curse mark already placed upon her arm. Unlike the previous memory, this one had appeared quite a few times and every time it did Tsukiko would end up breaking the jutsu, unable to move past it. To her it was a bad memory, it had caused her a lot of confusion and pain. She still wasn't sure who Orochimaru or _'that person'_ was. It had resulted in her receiving the curse mark that constantly drained her chakra and made her exhausted. It was a bad memory.

It was a bad memory...

 _'So why can I not move past it yet?'_

The memory didn't change and Tsukiko was left to keep analysing. There was nothing positive in that memory and chasing _'that person',_ and her connection to them, had brought her a lot of trouble. The whole reason she was in Shinoda at that moment was because she was chasing him. And yet she was still no closer to finding him. It was frustrating and concerning. Tsukiko was sure they were connected somehow, that their paths had crossed somewhere in the past, in a past she couldn't remember. She wanted to meet him, to find out who he was and what that connection was. Tsukiko felt he, and Orochimaru, were the only hope she had in finding out about her past.

The only hope...

Hope

 _'This memory, hearing about 'that person', gave me hope... Does that make it a good memory?'_

Tsukiko knew she was running out of time before her indecisiveness would break the genjutsu again and in the end Tsukiko was stuck on the idea of hope that she hadn't yet considered. From there, the only conclusion Tsukiko could draw was that it was neither a good or bad memory, but somewhere in the middle. It wasn't so easily categorised as the experience had scared her, confused her and made her fearful. But, it had also sparked a hope that one day she would be able to regain her early memories and that was a hope she had, before then, long given up on. Pieces began to fall into place for her as she realised this.

 _'In a way, I am... Glad... to have met Orochimaru that day... To have this mark connecting me to that history,'_

The memory faded away again and Tsukiko was half expecting to wake up on the other side of the genjutsu again, but instead she had passed it and she was now standing watching herself round on Neji after his fight with Hinata. Already Tsukiko had watched the memory repeat itself over and over as she was unable to analyse it correctly. It was a bad memory, that's all there was to it, and it hurt to watch over and over again. She still stood by the fact that she had every right to be mad in that moment, he had tried to kill someone she loved and there was no refuting that fact. But Tsukiko knew she had lied when she told him she hated him, but it didn't make his actions any less hurtful, it just meant she was willing to move past it.

 _'It's a bad memory... But... Through it I learnt that I'm able to forgive him... Because we are team mates and we've been through a lot together...'_

The memory began to fade. But not to move on, like the fading before, it was the genjutsu starting to fall and the memory around Tsukiko began to disintegrate and tarnish in colour.

 _'No, why is this happening? What am I missing?... I know how I feel... Don't I?... I don't hate him, I know that'_

Tsukiko remembered the emotions she felt. It wasn't hatred but just because it wasn't didn't make the memory positive in anyway. It hurt; seeing Hinata suffer hurt, turning against Neji hurt, having him disregard her feelings hurt, being told he was fine with hating her hurt, and lying and saying she hated him as well hurt.

 _'Why though?... Because we're team-'_

Tsukiko was back sitting on the hill top. The genjutsu broke.

She groaned loudly and rubbed her hands over her cheeks. She had no idea what she was missing and she was tired and everything was becoming more confusing.

"Tsukiko, I know how close you are and how frustrating it must be," Yasuna sympathised, having watched her struggle for the last 6 days trying to understand everything. He had seen her laugh and cry and get mad, all in such a short time of meeting her and through that he had come to know her well, "You are strong and I know you can do it. You can take that break now and well try again after,"

"No..." Tsukiko straightened her back, her expression hardened as she had regained some confidence after passing the memory with Orochimaru, "Let's keep going. There's only two memories that keep appearing now that I can't get past. But I'm going to do it, I don't want to leave here tomorrow without knowing,"

"Very well. Let's try again,"

It took a few more tries but eventually Tsukiko was able to pass the memory of killing Hori. She had been adamant that it was a bad memory, she had killed someone, taken their life, how could that possibly have been a good memory? But it was through that experience that Tsukiko came to understand just how far she was willing to go to protect the people she cared about. That experience had shaped her and made her into the kunoichi she was. She had also learnt the destructive power of her kekkei genkai and had come to terms with the fear and suspicion others held for her because of her abilities. To move on from that memory Tsukiko had to accept all of that; all of the pain and hurt, as well as all the growth and personal strength that occurred as a result.

That left one final memory. The memory of Neji trying to kill Hinata and of their following fight.

Every time Tsukiko fell into the genjutsu she was able to pass through all the other memories without struggle, even the ones that hurt to remember. But eventually it would lead to that memory and again she would fail and have to start all over again.

 _'Why though? We've already moved past fight... We are on good terms again. I don't hate him... I never did,'_

 _'Then if you don't hate him how do you feel about him?'_ Her tiny subconscious voice questioned,

 _'We're teammates-'_

 _'That's not a feeling. You're dodging the question,'_ The voice insisted,

 _'I don't know how I feel about him,'_

 _'That's a lie.'_

* * *

The morning sun had disappeared behind clouds as Tsukiko was escorted to the outskirts of Shinoda Forest by Yui and the other foxes she had become friends with over the passing week. As she walked Tsukiko examined the small cuts on her fingers she had made to sign the contract with the foxes that morning. After today she would no longer be living with them and this realisation made her a little sad, despite knowing she would be able to summon them if she need to in the future. She had learnt so much from them and was grateful for everything they had done for her, and Tsukiko told them this as she made her final goodbye.

"And we have learnt much from you, Tsukiko," Kuzunoha returned the sentiment, "May our paths cross again one day,"

"I would like that very much," Tsukiko agreed with a smile and a light bow.

At her feet Yui cried a sad little sound and pawed at her leg and Tsukiko picked her up, already knowing she was going to miss the cute little mischief maker. Yui pressed her nose into Tsukiko's neck and her crying only became worse.

"I'm sorry, Yui..." Tsukiko began, "I'm really sorry. I don't want to leave you..."

The tiny vixen had become very important to Tsukiko over the past week. She was excitable and playful and an endless source of amusement, she would tire herself out playing with mice or just simple leaves caught in the wind and would then sleep for hours. Yui also seemed to sense emotions and was always right there whenever Tsukiko began to feel discouraged during her training or began to worry about being away from Konoha and her family and team mates.

 _'I want to stay with you...'_

"Then don't leave her," Yasuna suggested and Tsukiko turned to look at him, a sadness in her face,

"I can't stay here any longer, I-"

"No, but you can take Yui with you,"

Yui perked up a this idea and she squirmed happily in Tukiko's arms. She turned to look at Kuzunoha who was watching Yui closely and after a drawn out moment where the two foxes seemed to come to a silent understanding she nodded her head slowly in silent agreement that she would allow Yui to leave,

"I knew six days ago that Yui had become quite taken with you," Kuzunoha mused, "This path is one I should have seen forming. Please look after Yui, I leave her in your care,"

Tsukiko agreed that she would take good care of Yui and promised that one day they would both return to Shinoda and they would see just how much they both had grown.

As she began her walk she waved to the foxes who came to see her off before she broke into a run, jumping from the branches of trees back towards the Konoha. Although Shinoda Forest was not marked onto any maps, Kuzunoha had marked the location in Tsukiko's map book that she had brought with her and using that she was able to guide her way back. She guessed she was about 3 hours from The Valley of the End and from there she knew she was another 4 hours from Konoha, but Tsukiko believed if she kept her pace up she could do it in 5 hours. With Yui perched in her shoulder bag for most the journey Tsukiko explained some of the unfamiliar terrain and gave little facts that she knew about different locations they passed by.

When the large gates of Konoha appeared in the distance Tsukiko finally slowed her pace down to a walk and carried Yui in her arms so she too could get a better look,

"This is my home," Tsukiko murmured quietly, more to herself than to her friend, and Yui made a quiet, happy noise in agreement, "Ah, you're right... this is _our_ home,"

As she made her way through gates it finally began to sink in that she had been away for so long. ' _I'm going to be in so much trouble...' ._ But Tsukiko wasn't overly worried though and she would take whatever punishment came her way. She deserved it. But it was all worth it. She had learnt so much in such a short time and she had met Yui - nothing would ever make her regret that. Her training with Yasuna meant she was even more prepared for the final exam of the Chunin Exams. She was stronger now, both physically and mentally, and she was ready to face any one in the finals whether it be Shikamaru or Temari in her first match or Neji in the finals.

 _'Neji... It seems I-'_

"Tsukiko? Tsukiko Kaguya?" A voice called from nearby and she paused as a jonin with white band across his nose ran towards her and behind him a few steps another man followed

"Ah... Yes, that is me..." She confirmed hesitantly and the man turned to his friend and mumbled something quietly to him, "Is something-"

"Tsukiko Kaguya, we are placing you under arrest," He moved to towards her and put a hand on her forearm and Tsukiko began to pull away, "for the murder of Dosu Kinuta."

* * *

 **NEXT TIME-**  
Chapter 15: _"Hiding behind a lie and a soft smile"_

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE-**

Ahhhh, my sweet children, I am sorry for the late update! I hit a crossroads of sorts with chapter 16 a while ago and I still haven't been able to figure out what I'm going to do about it. I was originally planning on waiting until I finished chapter 16 before posting this so I would stay always being at least 2 chapters ahead. But I don't want to keep you guys waiting any longer. So here it is and I will just get myself motivated and race to get ahead again.

Also, yay for references to Japanese folklore and mythology! For anyone who is familiar with the legend you will see the significance of character and place names used in this chapter :D

On another note, I'm sorry if this whole section seemed a little rushed... I feel that it did right? I debated for a while, thinking; maybe I should split this into two chapters and go into more detail. But as important as this time in Shinoda is to the story I really wanted to create a suspense about what she actually learnt until it was time to reveal them. Understand? That makes sense right? And it also probably plays a part in why I'm stuck with chapter 16.


	18. CHAPTER 15: Chunin Exams Arc, Part 10

CHAPTER 15:  
"Hiding behind a lie and a soft smile"

* * *

"Summoning jutsu!" Tsukiko slammed a bloodied hand in the ground and from a puff of smoke two foxes appeared. Yuri, a silver vixen with red markings, and Yuki, a dog with identical markings inverted in colour, were twins and were the two foxes she trained most with while she was in Shinoda - excluding Yasuna, but she didn't have anywhere near enough chakra to summon him.

"Ahh, Tsuki-chan!" Yuki sung as he circled around her legs pressing against her, "I didn't think I would see you again so soon, I'm so happy."

"Niisan, stop being weird," Yuri scolded, of the two of them she was the more serious one, and she pushed herself in between him and Tsukiko growling quietly at him,

"This is what I've been doing during the last week," Tsukiko tried to explain, again, ignoring the squabbling siblings, "I left the village this time last week, for what I thought was only going to be a few hours, but instead I ended up being away this whole time. I wasn't in the village to... kill anyone."

Tsukiko was detained in a small, sterile room inside the Intelligence Division building for, apparently, killing Dosu Kinuta. On the first night after Tsukiko left the village Dosu had been murdered atop the roof of a building. After they discovered that Tsukiko was missing and, after the events of the preliminaries, she had become the prime suspect. Shortly after her detainment Yui had been taken from her, she had been locked in the room, and over the course of the last few hours she had been interrogated about Dosu's murder and her disappearance. Her interrogator, a man named Inoichi Yamanaka, had shown her pictures of the scene and pointed out a resemblance to the report of Hori's death, and while Tsukiko could admit there were similarities to her it seemed he had been crushed rather than torn apart.

 _'This looks like Gaara's 'Sand coffin'... Could it have been him? But why?'_

But Tsukiko hoped that summoning Yuri and Yuki would be enough proof to cast doubt on her guilt.

"It's true, Ojiisan," Yuki chimed in, jumping up on the table and situating himself between Tsukiko and Inoichi,

"Tsuki-chan had already been brought to us by Yui," Yuri backed up her brother, "There's no way she could have killed that person,"

Inoichi questioned for details on why Tsukiko left Konoha in the first place and how she ended up discovering summoning foxes. She was forced to lie about her reason for leaving, not wanting to bring up the curse mark on her arm, and if Inoichi caught onto the fact she was lying he didn't say anything. After hearing all she had to say Inoichi left the room and Tsukiko thanked and released the twins to return to Shinoda.

To her it made no sense to kill Dosu. She had already won their match during the prelims and that was the end of it. If anything, she wanted him alive to question him more about Orochimaru and why he had recognised her clan markings and kekkei genkai - not that she could tell Inoichi this.

After a little while where Tsukiko paced the room, full of anxiety and nervousness about what was going to happen to her, the door opened again and Inoichi returned.

"Your teacher, Gai-sensei, has confirmed that this time last week you did not possess the ability to summon fox-nin and Hinata Hyuuga had corroborated your story that you left in the early afternoon and were not in the village at the time of Dosu's murder,"

"So, what does that mean now?"

"Your story checks out so, for now, you're free to go, Tsukiko,"

Tsukiko let out a breath she hadn't realised she had been holding, "Really? I can go home now?"

"You can. Your sensei is waiting in the foyer for you with Yui," Inoichi agreed, his tone of voice lighter and more friendly now that he wasn't interrogating her for a murder, but Tsukiko couldn't shake the feeling he wasn't still suspicious of her, "Though I would suggest that you don't leave the village without permission like that again,"

"Oh no, I wont do it again. I promise," Tsukiko spoke quickly and she bowed deeply as she apologised, "I'm sorry for causing so much trouble."

Tsukiko made her way quickly through the Intelligence Division building keen to put distance between herself and the small room. Her welcome back to the village hadn't gone as she planned and she knew that whatever trouble she was going to be in when she returned home was now going to be a hundred times worse. In the foyer Tsukiko couldn't see Gai-sensei but Yui was waiting for her, just as Inoichi had said, and the small vixen ran and jumped up at her when she seen her coming.

"Sorry, Yui, we just got here and already I haven't been able to-" Tsukiko began to apologise as she picked her up but was cut off,

"TSU-KI-KOOOO~" A voice bellowed from behind her and she recognised it instantly, she turned to see Gai-sensei sprinting towards her and instinctively she dodged out of the way as he dived at her.

He landed heavily on the ground and spun quickly to face her and pout. Before she could say anything he was back on his feet and had pulled her into a tight, and slightly unwanted, hug. In between them Yui squealed from being squished,

"I was so worried!" Gai wailed as he cried in the dramatic fashion her teacher and Lee were known for,

"Sorry, Sensei," She barely managed to wheeze out words, still being crushed in his hug.

When Tsukiko finally managed to be free of his hug she let Yui down and laughed as she growled silently towards Gai. She turned her attention back to her teacher to ask him about everything that might have happened while she was away but found his attention had already shifted from her and he was cautiously watching something behind her, a rare serious expression on his face. She followed his eye line to an elderly man standing at the end of the corridor. The right half of his face was covered in white bandages and he wore a dark robe over a white shirt that concealed his entire right arm and shoulder, leaving only his left arm free. Tsukiko had never met or seen the person before but as her eye caught his she was overcome with an instinctual fear which drove her to quickly look away quickly.

"Tsukiko? Have you seen that man before?" Gai asked, his voice slightly lowering, "His name is Danzo Shimura."

"I haven't"

"He wasn't there during your interrogation? He hasn't spoken to you?"

Tsukiko shook her head, "No, I haven't met him before. And... I get the feeling I don't want to?"

"You don't," He replied simply

Tsukiko was about to question him further, to ask what he meant and why he said that, but a second later all seriousness in his expression and voice was gone and he reverted back to his carefree, excitable self. His attention was focused on Yui and he cooed at her, exclaiming how cute she was, and Tsukiko laughed and played along and ignored the suspicions she had. She wanted to glance back, to see if the man was still there, but her caution outweighed her curiosity.

* * *

Tsukiko was essentially on house arrest as her punishment from Hiashi. Over the passing days Tsukiko had training with Gai-sensei everyday and then back at the Hyuuga compound, which she wasn't allowed to leave except for training, she trained by herself in rest of the time. The fatigue of the curse mark on her arm still bothered her, but since collapsing twice in the one day it seemed to be happening less frequently and in the almost two weeks since then she had only happened twice; once while she was in Shinoha and then again her first proper day back in Konoha.

Like before she was in Shinoda, her training time with her teacher was divided to be one-on-one some of the time and then combined training with Neji the rest of the time. However, despite this being how it was meant to be, Neji never once attended a single combined training they had scheduled and while Tsukiko didn't know for sure why he wasn't showing up, she gathered it was her fault. When she left the village she was sure they were on good terms again, but now she wasn't so sure.

After yet another combined training session that morning, which turned into a one-on-one with Gai, Tsukiko was becoming slightly annoyed and wanted to know why it was he seemed to be avoiding her again. She debated with herself on her walk home whether to break her home arrest for a short while and detour to confront him but as she thought about the idea and what she would say she only became more frustrated and decided against it. She didn't, however, decide against disobeying her punishment and Tsukiko decided instead to go somewhere and read and just relax by herself for a while, not yet wanting to go back to the compound where her family were all keeping a close eye on her.

As Tsukiko searched for a place to hide out, without risk of being spotted disobeying Hiashi, she remembered the balcony at the Academy where Team Gai had their first meeting. She remembered it was a nice space, open to be able to see the whole village but also secluded enough that no one would know she was there.

 _'It's perfect. I said at the time I should take a book up there and pass an afternoon being unproductive. I am meant to go home and keep training but I can't imagine a better afternoon to waste than this one,'_

As Tsukiko made her way over to the Academy building she did so as sneakily and as quickly as she could, not wanting to be caught. She scaled the outside of the building in a swift few seconds of vertically running up the wall, using chakra in her feet to keep her stable, before swinging herself over the railing at the top of the balcony. She quickly peered back around to make sure she hadn't been spotted or pursued to her hiding spot and when she was sure it was clear she sat down, her back leaning against the railing, and pulled out a book ready to read.

Just as she had expected it was the perfect little hiding spot and there was a gentle breeze blowing through that took the edge off the heat from sitting in direct sunlight. Tsukiko had almost read a whole chapter before she even looked up from her book and even then it was only for a fraction of a second just to sit up straighter and stretch her back a little.

But that fraction of a second was all she needed to finally notice the pair of legs poking out from under the shaded part of the balcony.

Startled by the sudden appearance of another person, who she hadn't realised was ever there or came to be there while she was reading, Tsukiko made a high pitched noise of surprise and fumbled and dropped her book. Her sudden exclamation made the person across from her sit up with a start and he frowned at her, seemingly already aware of her presence already. Finally seeing their face Tsukiko recognised them as Shikamaru Nara - one of two possible opponents he could be facing in her first match of the final exam,

She exhaled deeply, feeling silly about her sudden fright, and made to pick up her book, "Shesh... how long have you been there?"

"Longer than you," He replied shortly, sleep still thick in his voice,

"Really?" Tsukiko pulled a face, embarrassed that she hadn't even picked up on his presence, too busy focusing behind on whether someone following her, "Sorry for waking you then,"

He waved a hand dismissively and laid back down, and Tsukiko took that to mean he accepted her apology. Tsukiko thought about leaving to find a new hiding spot, but decided cause Shikamaru didn't seem to care about her presence she would just stay anyway. She flipped her book back open and read in silence, unfazed by the sleeping person near her who was probably meant to be training at that moment as well.

Looking up from her book again Tsukiko thought about questioning him on his training to fight Temari but instead decided against it, knowing he was too smart to give away any information that would be of use to her. Instead her attention turned back to her book and the sun that was slowly moving to cast a shadow over where she sat. As she read she slowly inched her away from the approaching shade, following the balcony railing around with the sunlight. The afternoon drew on and neither of them made to leave or bothered the other. At one point he opened his eyes to see what she was doing, seeming to sense her movement as she shuffled over slightly to follow the sun, her direction of moving around the balcony brought her closer to him somewhat, but again he seemed unfazed by her presence and simply closed his eyes to sleep again.

"Shouldn't you be training right now?" A disembodied voice barked causing both Tsukiko and Shikamaru to flinch in fright. They both slowly turned towards the voice, wondering which one of them had been caught slacking off.

It was Asuma-sensei.

 _'Phew... He wasn't talking to me...'_

Shikamaru groaned and slowly got to his feet, "This is such a drag..."

"Rather you than me," Tsukiko mumbled so only he could hear and he sighed,

"Now's not the time to be picking up cute girls, Shikamaru," Asuma scolded, a teasing humour to his voice, "Especially when she's a possible opponent and the exam is only two days away,"

Tsukiko frowned in annoyance and Shikamaru clicked his tongue as he reluctantly made to follow his teacher,

"See you at the exam, Shikamaru Nara," Tsukiko called after him, "I look forward to the possibility of facing you"

"Later," He waved a hand over his shoulder already passing through the door and ahead of his teacher, "Tsuki Kaguya wasn't it is?" He paused only for a second to glance back in questioning of her name and she didn't have a chance to correct him before Asuma had closed the door and they were both gone from sight.

* * *

Tsukiko stayed reading in the sun on the balcony for another hour before she finally decided to return to the Hyuuga compound and hopefully not get into trouble for breaking her curfew. She made her way down the Academy building wall and then down the street, slinking along the rooftops, just as silently and as quickly as she did to get up to her hiding spot. As she made to descend back to street level she glanced around first to make sure the coast was clear and further ahead, walking in the same direction as her, she spotted Neji. It was the first time she had seen him since she got back to the village and her curiosity on why he had been avoiding their combined training got the better of her.

Stalking along the rooftops she approached him cautiously from behind, the street below was vacant except for him and Tsukiko extended a bone from her wrist as she prepared to pounce down at him. As she struck for him Neji dodged backwards, sensing the attack, but his movement wasn't fast enough and Tsukiko landed with her extended bone positioned under his chin.

"Dead," Tsukiko informed him, indicating if her intention had been to assassinate him she would have succeeded,

"Dead," Neji returned and the sharp jab to the left side of her ribcage her side informed her that he would have just ruptured her spleen and liver if his intention was the same,

Tsukiko clicked her tongue as she retracted the extended bone and rubbed a hand over the area where he jabbed at her, "Guess we both would have lost that one,"

"Yes... I guess so," He agreed, a hesitancy to his voice, and he turned away to continue walking, obviously uncertain about being around her.

Tsukiko followed and fell into step beside him without saying anything until the end of the street, waiting to see if he would be the first to speak up.

"So? Are you going to tell me why are you avoiding me?" Tsukiko asked finally after he still didn't say anything, "The final exams in a couple of days and you haven't been to any of our training meetings. I can only take that to mean it's my fault somehow-"

"No, that's not it," Neji quickly cut her off and he stopped walking again, "I just..."

He trailed of his sentence and shook his head but Tsukiko waited patiently for him to continue. When he turned his head away from her Tsukiko moved to be back in his line of vision and he frowned down at her,

"I just didn't know what to say," It sounded something of a question in the way he said it and it was Tsukiko's turn to frown, unsure what he meant, "I was going to go tomorrow though"

"You know a simple 'welcome back' could have been a start?" She tried to joke but it seemed to fall flat and Neji didn't even smile at the attempt,

"You were acting really weird before you left-"

"-No I wasn't-"

"-This thing on your arm- and don't insult me by thinking I couldn't see it," Neji firmly grabbed her right arm with the curse mark on it to express his point, and Tsukiko couldn't argue her way around it, "And then Dosu was murdered and you were gone. I knew you wouldn't have killed him and that's why-"

"What? Were you worried about me?" Tsukiko laughed lightly, trying to defuse the tension and not sensing the agitation in his voice,

"Yes!" He cut her off, exasperated, like it was the most obvious thing she wasn't understanding. It caught her by surprise and when she looked up at him again he looked annoyed but his voice softened, "Of course I was,"

Neji exhaled sharply and shook his head again as he began to back away and Tsukiko realised he was serious, actually deeply concerned about her. It was a side of him she had not seen to that extent before and it seemed she was only mocking him for expressing it.

"Neji... Wait," She grabbed his arm as he made to let go of hers and she moved abruptly to follow after him, not thinking he would actually stop. When he did it caught her by surprise and she was only half a step away from colliding into him.

Despite this Tsukiko made no move to step back away again or release her grip on his arm. She found herself unable to look at him, feel guilty, and instead bowed her head to look at the ground, her forehead pressing against his chest.

"I'm sorry," She said finally, her voice barely above a whisper.

Neji didn't say anything or pull away from her contact for a drawn out moment and when he slid his arm away from her grip Tsukiko thought he was going to pull away. But instead he only readjusted so he was able to, ever so slightly, pull her closer to him and close the half step gap between them.

It wasn't quite an embrace but it was the closest she had ever been with him and she found herself not wanting to let go.

"I didn't mean to cause trouble for anyone," Tsukiko continued, still not ready to look at him yet either, "I'm sorry I made you worry,"

Tsukiko felt the rise and fall of Neji's chest beneath her forehead as he sighed, "Okay," he said finally, simple and calm

"'Okay'?" She mimicked back, questioning the sudden change of tone,

"You've always been reckless and have been causing trouble for me since the Academy," There was a lightness to his voice that she hadn't heard in a while, "Why should this be any different?"

Tsukiko finally looked up at him and found he was watching her closely. It was the first time their roles had been reversed and she was the one unable to look at him and was unsure what to say.

"What?" Neji questioned cautiously examining the expression on her face.

 _'Maybe he is right... Maybe I am reckless'_

"It makes me happy to know you care enough about me to worry," Tsukiko told him without thinking, channelling her supposed recklessness, and she smiled in spite of her guilt.

There was a second where Neji's grip on Tsukiko's arm seized and he simply blinked at her, caught of guard.

"Tch," Neji dismissed the comment after too long a hesitation and he reverted back to being unable to look at her again, a slight heated tint to his face as he clicked his tongue in annoyance. At this Tsukiko found herself laughing, it was a spontaneous and bright feeling she hadn't felt in a long time and she bowed her head back into Neji's chest until her laughter subsided.

When Tsukiko pulled away again she finally let go of his arm as well but found he didn't yet let go, and his attention remained focused on her wrist,

"What exactly are you doing?" Neji asked finally, a mixture of curiosity and concern in his voice,

"What do you think?" Tsukiko asked, hiding her own curiosity to understand the curse mark as it seemed Neji believed whatever was happening she was the one controlling it,

"Pooling chakra to an external place? I would guess..." He questioned and Tsukiko hesitated trying to think of an answer but he didn't wait for her to give one, "I get it, you don't have to tell me. But I know it has adverse effects on you... Should I be worried?"

 _'Yes, and I am worried too'_

"No, I told you it makes me happy to know you worry, but you really don't need to," She said instead, ignoring her own concerns and hiding behind a lie and a soft smile. The last thing Tsukiko wanted to do was make him worry anymore than he already had been.

Though Tsukiko decided to keep her secret for just a little bit longer she could feel the pull inside her that wanted her to tell Neji the truth. His Byakugan would give her insight into how mark was affecting her chakra and just how much she was losing when she had the occasional influx of extracting chakra.

 _'No... That's not just it...'_

It wasn't just the practical use of Neji knowing that made Tsukiko want to tell him. It was because she didn't want to lie to him or hurt him. She wanted him to know so she would have someone to turn to and someone to understand what she was dealing with. She wanted him to be that person.

And it was due to her training in Shinoda, going though that genjutsu for hours on end until she finally completed the last part of her training, that allowed Tsukiko to finally know why she felt that way,

 _'Because it's you, Neji... Because despite everything... I've fallen for you...'_

* * *

 **NEXT TIME-**  
Chapter 16: _"I'm holding you to it"_

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE-**

YAAAAY so there we have it - the first inclination of looooooove!

This love story is now ACTUALLY a love story now! And after only... 15 chapters/18 parts... Oops... Well, I warned you all at this beginning that this was a slow burning story :P

Would you believe me if I said that final line was actually only last minute addition, when I first wrote this chapter I had planned to tease it out a little further and not make any explicit statements yet... Was going to make you guys wait even longer mwahahahaaa. But no, the timing is right.

Things are... _Falling..._ into place, so to speak. Haaaaa!

I'm so sorry that was a fucking terrible pun. I promise I'll just stick to writing slightly less terrible fanfic from now on!

(Note to my rival: I swear to god I will be able to hear you cringe even from halfway across the country when I post this chapter and you get to read that shitty pun; "Shiny, stop. Just don't even try to be funny"; but hey, at least it's not a dead baby joke, right?... Well, this time its not... I'll save them for the author's note of another chapter :P)

ANYWAY... Moving on...

I wanted to apologize again for the late update. Seems that I might keep doing that for a while as I am still stuck on chapter 16! Sorry guys I just can't decide what I'm going to do to finish this story arc, I really should have written this part out better in my planning cause I can't remember what was going through my head when I was first plotting this part of the story. I will try figure everything out over the weekend if I can so I can finally move on to other story arcs which I am more motivated to write. Sorry and thank you for sticking with me this far!

Now that we have gotten this far, what's to come next in our developing love story?

Here's some more questions to ponder in your wait for more chapters:

1.) Are her feelings reciprocated? How does he feel about her?*  
2.) Is she going to tell him this realisation? Is there a dramatic confession coming in future?  
3.) DO THEY GET TOGETHER?! WHEN IS THIS GOING TO HAPPEN?!  
4.) What the frick frack is up with that random addition of Shikamaru? Why is that scene there? Does it even serve a purpose?**  
5.) The issue of Tsuki being arrested for Dosu's murder was a little anticlimactic, don't ya think? What was up with that? Did that event serve a purpose?**  
6.) And what about Danzo? Back in 'special' chapter 11.1 he was mentioned as well, why was he randomly brought up then and again now? **/***

* Imma be honest though - i think its pretty damn obvious really :P  
** All scenes serve a purpose, even if it doesn't seem so at the time... Just trust me...  
*** Ahh yes, Danzo... I feel the need to point out now that he is my least favourite character in the ENTIRE series. I really hate him.


	19. CHAPTER 16: Chunin Exams Arc, Part 11

CHAPTER 16: 'Kimimaro'

Tsukiko stood at the far end of her bedroom. It was dark, still a few hours before dawn and in her hands she held an old book, one Hiashi had given her many years ago. The dull sound of crickets singing out in the courtyard came in through the open window above her bed. Everything around her was familiar, she knew it all well, which was why it took her so long to realise that something very important wasn't familiar.

Though the room Tsukiko stood in was her own, the body which stood there was not. The book she held was her own but the hands which held it were not.

They belonged to another, to _that_ person.

Placing the book back down on the top of the last of the many piles of books they turned around and Tsukiko was able to see herself, her own physical body, fast asleep bundled under the blankets of her bed. It was disconcerting and with only half her face visible under a mass of messy orange hair and blankets she almost didn't recognise herself. Even as they drew closer and brushed the hair back from her forehead Tsukiko barely knew the person who didn't even stir at the contact.

She was completely vulnerable and Tsukiko wanted to scream at herself to wake up but couldn't and while she was in the mind of the stranger she wouldn't wake up for anything.

 _'I could be killed...'_

The thought crossed her mind in a panicked flash, but as soon as it did she dismissed it. Some intuitive part of her told her she wasn't in any real danger, and while she didn't understand who _'that person'_ was she felt that they didn't want to harm her.

The room around her began fading and the next thing Tsukiko knew she was walking outside the village wall and along the outskirts of the trees. They travelled in the direction of the stream which ran down into the village but before they got that far a sound from the darkness of the trees caught their attention and they stopped. Peering into the shadows two bright gleams of gold slowly emerged, the colour strikingly bold in the darkness. Tsukiko remembered seeing them before, they were the same yellow eyes that watched her in the Forest of Death.

"Orochimaru-sama" The greeting came from her own mouth, she had never heard him speak before and the voice was softer and younger sounding than she had imaged it would be.

"You're of no use to me on this mission, Kimimaro." Orochimaru's voice came as a low hiss from the dark and it was followed by silence, "But you didn't come here for that, did you? You went to see her?"

 _'Kimimaro? Is that who you are? What mission is he talking about?'_

Moving closer and into the dim morning light Orochimaru lowered his head and the brim of a large white hat he wore cast shadows over his eyes. He wore pure white robes and although Tsukiko had seen clothes like it before in the poor light she couldn't figure out what they were. Before he was close enough for her to find out the scene began fading away.

Tsukiko awoke slowly, her eyes opening to see the ceiling of her bedroom above her. She was back in her room and in her own body. _'Kimimaro... So that is who you are.'_ It was the first clue she had of discerning _'that person's'_ identity. She now knew his name, and she knew he, as well as Orochimaru, were very close to the village at that moment. She sat up slowly and looked around her room. Everything was still the same and in a way it had all felt like a strange dream. As her gaze fell upon the piles of books Tsukiko knew that she could find out whether it was all a dream or not. If the book Hiashi brought her was on the top of the last pile then it all really did happen, _'that person_ ' moved it to be there. Slipping out of bed she crossed the room in long strides and the book she was after was easily visible even before she reached it, sitting on the top of the last of the many piles off books she owned. She knew it was not the pile she had left it on, it was the one Kimimaro had placed down on.

 _'It's moved. He really was here...'_

Silently and quickly Tsukiko crept around the Hyuuga compound looking for any other signs that someone may have been there. However her search quickly turned up nothing and as she peeped her head into Hinata's and Hinabi's bedrooms she found they were sleeping soundly and were unharmed. Tsukiko hadn't really expected to find them harmed, for some reason nothing about Kimimaro made her fear him, but she still breathed a sigh of relief knowing that they were okay.

She tiptoed back to her room along the pathway around the inner courtyard, making sure to be as quiet as possible as it was still about an hour too early for anyone else to be awake. Although Tsukiko knew she had nothing to fear, that she wasn't in any danger, she couldn't shake the agitation that she felt.

"Where were you sneaking off to so early?" Hiashi's voice came from nowhere, startling her, and she turned to find him standing at the end of the hall appraising her.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people like that," Tsukiko exhaled sharply, her heart still trying to beat its way out of her chest.

"You're still on curfew-" He sounded angry and Tsukiko cut him off and quickly set about explaining herself.

"I know, I know. Honestly, I wasn't going anywhere, only back to my room" She told him, "I woke up and couldn't shake a weird feeling to be able to go back to sleep."

It wasn't exactly a lie, Tsukiko was sure that even if she tried to go back to sleep now she wouldn't be able to.

Hiashi's expression softened, seeming to understand, "Could that have anything to do with the final exam later today?"

"Maybe... I am a little nervous." Tsukiko hummed, it was easier having him think that than having to tell him the truth. She mostly just wanted to go back to her room so she didn't elaborate and tried to carry on her way.

"Nervous? That is rather unlike you?" Hiashi mused, and she silently cursed that it was now of all times that he actually wanted to talk. Any other time she would have relished the chance to have a conversation with him as he was usually the one that bushed her off, "I remember before your Academy graduation you were awake hours early too, but that was out of reckless excitement, not nervousness"

"Reckless?" The word caught her attention. It wasn't the first time someone had used that word to describe her recently - it was, however, not a word she would have used to describe herself, "Am I really like that?"

"With some things, yes, I would say you are,"

"How?" She demanded, her voice a little more aggressive than she had meant

He paused before he answered, silently questioning why it was so important to her.

"The reason you're on curfew at the moment is because you were reckless with your own safety, but, you were also cautious enough to protect Hinata from getting into trouble because of you" He spoke matter-of-factly and Tsukiko opened her mouth to protest but shut it again, "That is why I say only with some things. "

Tsukiko thought about what he said, it wasn't something she had ever thought about before. She was always more careful when other people could be affected by her actions, she made sure to protect them, but she thought that was a normal thing to do. Was she actually reckless when she thought no one else would be affected except her?

 _'But that's okay right? As long as I can protect someone else from getting hurt then I can be a little reckless... To protect them'_

* * *

The rest of Tsukiko's morning passed painfully slowly as she thought over everything that had happened since meeting Orochimaru in the Forest of Death. But no matter how many times she played it all over and over, all she could piece together was that something very bad was about to happen because of him.

"Tsuki-neechan!" Hinata's voice distracted her from her thoughts and she looked up to see her sister jogging down the hallway to her, "Are you heading out?"

"Yeah," Tsukiko nodded, "Hospital visiting hours open soon so I am going to go replace Lee's flowers, they are starting to wilt."

"Well, if I don't see you before the final test then good luck!"

"I'll make sure to come find you beforehand, okay?" Tsukiko promised as she made to leave, calling her farewells as she passed out the door.

If she was being honest, the flowers in Lee's room were still quite fresh and would probably last another couple of days before they needed replacing. But visiting her teammate was an excuse that, despite being on a strict curfew, allowed her to get out of the compound for a while and with so many thoughts clouding her head Tsukiko thought that she could do with some alone time. Though it dawned on her that technically after the exam that afternoon she would be free of her curfew again.

The streets of Konoha were relatively empty with it still being so early. The shops that lined the streets were just starting to open and Tsukiko was able to walk leisurely enjoying the mild warmth of the morning sun. As she walked her thoughts turned back to Orochimaru again - unable to push him from the forefront of her mind for too long. She didn't know why he was interested in her, or why Kimimaro had come into her home. She also couldn't figure out what Orochimaru wanted with Sasuke Uchiha either, or what their curse marks were, but she was suspicious as to whether Sasuke was really on their side. On top of that there were the mysterious Sound-nin who recognised her kekei genkai and clan markings. There were so many things she didn't understand, but she couldn't help but think they were all connected somehow. It definitely sounded like they were planning something, but without proof she didn't know what to do with her suspicions. Should she tell someone, maybe Hiashi or Gai?

 _'And tell them what? You have no proof of anything. Kakashi obviously knows about Sasuke's curse mark so they must already have some suspicions about what is happening, right?'_

Arriving at Yamanka flowers only minutes after the store opened Tsukiko was greeted by a surprisingly talkative Ino and with ease the kunoichi put together a uniquely vibrant flower arrangement that Tsukiko would never have thought would work without the colours clashing.

"Are you ready for your match against Shikamaru in the final exam today?" Ino asked finally, her accompanying smile seeming genuine as she slid the newly made flower arrangement across the counter.

"You think he will win against Temari to end up in the match against me?" She questioned in return as she accepted the flowers, but she already knew what the answer would be.

Ino answered an emphatic 'yes' and Tsukiko couldn't help but smile, appreciating the confidence Ino had in her teammate. As she left the flower shop Ino wished her good luck in their match, loudly tagging on that she would need it if she wanted to win against Shikamaru. Tsukiko had learnt about Shikamaru and his incredibly high level of intelligence and strategic abilities in preparation for them facing off in the first round. She knew he would be a formidable opponent and Ino wasn't wrong to put her faith in him. But to her it didn't matter who she faced, she would win either way without fault.

 _'Sorry, but I made a promise to meet someone in the finals, so I won't lose to anyone!'_

The hospital was a short walk from Yamanaka Flowers and Tsukiko greeted the staff as she made her way up to Lee's room. Through her frequent visitation she had come to know many of the people who worked there quite well and it pleased Tsukiko to know that such kind people were taking care of Lee. Since Gaara attempted to attack him three weeks ago there was also a jonin level ninja posted outside his room door acting as security to prevent it from happening again.

"Good morning, Lee," Tsukiko greeted brightly as she entered, sliding the room door closed behind her.

She knew Lee couldn't hear her or respond but she always talked to him as if he could and the medical-nin staff said that it would help - though she didn't understand how. As she set about opening the windows and placing the newly cut flowers in a vase Tsukiko chatted away to him, mostly as a distraction from her own thoughts.

"That girl, Sakura, you like her don't you? Well, she came here again yesterday to visit you," She informed him, finally pulling up a chair beside his bed and she sat back comfortably, using the frame of his bed as a foot rest, "Unfortunately for me however she doesn't know anything about Sasuke or his curse mark. I thought she would be more useful than Naruto but I guess I was wrong. And I can't really go asking Kakashi-sensei about it without him getting suspicious."

Having someone to talk to, or rather talk at, had become very helpful to Tsukiko. She didn't know how to begin telling Gai or Neji about everything that had happened since the Forest of Death and she wasn't sure what would happen if she tried. Tsukiko was scared of getting into trouble. She'd always known she was an outsider in the village, someone who couldn't completely be trusted, she had overheard Hiashi talking about it in the past and more than anything she wanted to earn her place in the village. But this strange connection she had to Orochimaru and to Kimimaro, who appeared to be enemies of Konoha, jeopardised everything she was working so hard for. Tsukiko believed it would prove to them that she didn't belong and that she couldn't be trusted. If it came out she would be alone again.

Talking with Lee allowed her to gain a new perspective on the things she couldn't make sense of without the fear of his judgement. In a way, Tsukiko was grateful for being able to talk to him, but it wasn't something she would ever be able to thank him for.

"You know, something really weird happened this morning" Tsukiko continued, sitting forward in her chair. Lowering her voice she went over everything that had happened that morning in great detail, hoping that by tracing the events she would she would pick up on something she had overlooked.

"He was wearing white robes too and I know I've seen them before but I just can't remember where," Tsukiko sighed, so preoccupied with her own thoughts that she didn't hear the sound of the room door opening, "Lee, I think something bad is coming and I'm running out of time to figure all this out"

"To figure all what out?" Tsukiko finally heard the latch of the door catch as it closed and she looked up in a start to see Neji lingering by the door, watching her inquisitively.

"Just exam stuff" She dismissed his question, trying her best to be nonchalant but unsure about how much he had overheard, "Just a few hours left until the final test after all."

"Sure," Neji agreed, but Tsukiko knew he wasn't convinced.

"I'm surprised to see you here though," She attempted to deflect attention away onto him,

He shrugged, "Had a feeling you might be here,"

"Me? You were looking for-"

 _'Huh?'_

* * *

 **NEXT TIME-**

 **Chapter 16:** _"Her bones didn't break, they couldn't"_

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE-**

ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

im back :D


	20. CHAPTER 17: Konoha Crush Arc, Part 1

CHAPTER 17: Her bones didn't break, they couldn't

Her consciousness came back blurry and disoriented. As she opened her eyes her surroundings were too bright and the sound of her name being called was too distant for Tsukiko to take notice of. She felt a pain in her leg but, like the voice that called to her, it felt far away. She blinked, furrowing her brows, trying to clear her vision.

"Tsukiko!?" The voice sounded more urgent the clearer it got, "What happened to you? Tsukiko, wake up."

She could feel soft, rapid taps to her cheek and in the bright light above her a blurry figure was leaning down over her.

 _'What happened to me? I don't- I'm too tired...'_

Tsukiko closed her eyes, finding it took too much energy to keep them open. She wanted to sleep, to avoid trying to move. She felt so tired.

"No, come back." The voice persisted, the tapping on her face slightly harder now, "Open your eyes. Look at me."

Reluctantly she obeyed and the sight of dark eyes and a face too close to hers came into view and it took a drawn out moment for her eyes to focus enough to recognise the face.

"Gai-sensei..." Tsukiko trailed off as memories of what happened came flooding back.

 _"I had a feeling you might be here," Neji said, crossing the room towards her_

 _"Me?" She questioned, tilting her head, "You were looking for-"_

 _Tsukiko was cut off by Neji lunging towards her. In the blink of an eye he had crossed the small space between them and stabbed a syringe into her neck. Tsukiko kicked him away, the force tipping her chair backwards and she scrambled, rolling over her shoulder as quickly as she could, to get to her feet and face him. He was poised and ready to attack her, a scalpel in his hand as he lunged for her again. It was tight conditions to fight in and Tsukiko needed to get him away from Lee who lay vulnerable in the middle of their altercation. As Neji struck for her with the scalpel she dodged backwards with as much force as she could, throwing herself through the glass window and tumbling down onto the titled roof below. After making sure Neji was following her she broke into a sprint across the hospital roof and leapt across to the next building._

 _Very quickly her pace began to slow and Tsukiko realised that whatever drug was in the syringe she was stuck with was beginning to affect her. Neji caught up to her easily and as she attempted to jump across to the roof of the next building he threw the scalpel after her and it sliced clean through the calf of her left leg. Her jump came up short as a result and she crashed heavily against the edge of the roof, knocking the wind out of her lungs and sending her plummeting two floors down onto the concrete below._

"Tsukiko? Are you listening to me?" Gai's voice caught her attention again, "You never showed up for the final test of the exam-"

"What?! The exam has started?"

In her haste to sit upright Tsukiko was met with an excruciating pain in her left leg. Her foot was twisted in at an unnatural angle and a dark red smear marked the ground beneath her. Her tibia bone was split in two and the bottom half of the break had torn through her calf muscle and jutted out through the skin.

 _Laying on the hard concrete the pain in Tsukiko's leg was unbearable. Her bones didn't break, they couldn't. It was a fact she had taken for granted all her life, she had never broken one before and didn't believe she ever would. However, although she didn't have the strength to sit up to look she knew that she had broken something. In the periphery of her vision Neji came into view, striding closer until he loomed over her._

 _"This should keep you away from the arena," Neji sneered, "And away from interfering with the invasion."_

 _"Who... are you really?" Tsukiko struggled, her voice strained, knowing that the person before her was definitely not Neji._

 _His appearance faded in a puff of smoke and in his place Kabuto stood grinning darkly at her as her vision faded and sleep took her._

The effects of the drug Tsukiko was injected with had mostly worn off and while she still didn't understand what was happening there were pieces of information that were starting to fall into place.

 _'It's all going to start at the exam arena and if the final test has already begun then we don't have time to waste... We need to stop you...'_

"Orochimaru..." The name fell from her lips unconsciously

"Orochimaru?!" Gai repeated the name, his tone urgent, "Where did you learn that name?"

"We need to get to the exam arena" Tsukiko ignored his question and pressed on turning her attention back to the broken bone that had ripped through her flesh. While she had never tried it before, she knew that in order to regrow a new, unbroken bone she first needed to remove the two broken halves. Growing the top half out was an easy and relatively painless task. The bottom half however was another story. It needed to go out through the open wound, rather than the natural exit point near her knee. It only took a second to do, but it took everything she had not to scream in pain and pass out.

"You're in no condition to fight-" Gai began as he pulled a bandage from his pouch to bind her leg and stop the bleeding, but Tsukiko cut him off.

"That's not it. There's no time to explain but..." She glanced up at him, "Something very bad is about to happen at the exam arena."

"Then we have to hurry."

Something about Gai's expression and the ease in which he believed her gave Tsukiko the impression that he already knew something was going to happen. She had guessed that the village was already aware of Orochimaru and were suspicious of his actions, but now she was sure she was right.

If Tsukiko was correct in thinking, then Orochimaru would be at the exams disguised as the Fourth Kazekage and would be waiting to assassinate the Hokage when the invasion began. She hadn't realise it at the time but she knew now that the robes Orochimaru wore when he met with Kimimaro were definitely the ones worn by the leaders of the hidden villages. The fact Kabuto was sent to prevent her from interfering with the invasion led her to believe that Orochimaru and Kimimaro were aware of the strange moments she had been experiencing of being inside Kimimaro's mind and Tsukiko wondered if that connection worked both ways, if Kimimaro could see into her mind too.

But that was a worry for a different time, right now she needed to focus on getting to the arena. Tsukiko wasn't sure what would trigger the start of the invasion, or who exactly it was invading, but she guessed Otogakure would be involved, as the genin team participating in the exam already knew of Orochimaru, and Sunagakure too if he was posing as their leader. She still wasn't sure where Sasuke and his curse mark fit into the situation but if there was a possibility he was working with Orochimaru as well Tsukiko needed to find him and stop him.

As Gai and Tsukiko approached the chunin exam arena the sound of a loud explosion near the village wall distracted them. Halting and turning to look back, a giant plume of dust arose in the distance and looming over the debris of the broken wall were three giant snakes. Following them groups of ninjas poured in through the hole, but Tsukiko was too far away to make out who the invading ninja were. They didn't wait to see what would happen next and instead hurried on, entering into the grandstand seating of the arena.

 _'We're too late. It's already started'_

All around the arena audience members were unconscious in their chairs and Konoha-nin where engaged in combat with Oto-nin. Immediately Tsukiko and Gai joined the conflict by taking out an Otogakure ninja who stood in their way. Tsukiko struck for him with her bone whip and tangled it around his legs and he fell forward into Gai's perfectly timed kick. Behind him, two of his comrades were already rushing to help him. But the immense power behind Gai's attack sent the Oto-nin flying backwards into his reinforcements, knocking them all down at once. Tsukiko quickly used her bone whip to bind all 6 of the legs together before following after her teacher.

On the other side of the arena Kakashi was engaged in combat with more Otagakure enemies and together Tsukiko and Gai fought their way around the circumference of the arena over to him, taking out the last of the Sound-nin in the process. Kakashi wasted no time in catching Gai up on what had happened while he had been away looking for Tsukiko and he told them how the Third Hokage was currently fighting against Orochimaru and that his genin students had gone after Gaara and his team who had escaped the arena when the invasion began after Gaara had been injured by Sasuke during their match.

In return Gai informed him that the village wall had been breached by giant summoned snakes and their comrades fighting there would not be enough to hold back the invaders, they would need help soon. Kakashi agreed and the two decided that would be their next destination.

"That is no fight for a genin" Kakashi said, turning to Tsukiko.

"What about your students, Sensei?" Tsukiko asked, ignoring the fact that the strain of fighting and running with an injury were becoming apparent to her, "I can back them up."

"You're in no shape to be fighting," Gai shook his head, "Help our comrades guide the citizens here to the safe area behind Hokage Rock and then stay there and rest."

Tsukiko wasn't willing to give up. She knew where Sasuke was heading and she wanted to know what he was up to. Was he going after the Suna genin to stop them as Kakashi said or for another reason? Was it to make sure they escaped the village unharmed? If so why would he have harmed Gaara during their fight like Kakashi said he did? Was he really in the same situation as her and he knew nothing about Orochimaru?

"I'm fine!" She complained, "I can help-"

"Don't argue and do as you're ordered," A familiar voice scolded and Tsukiko turned to see Hiashi walking up the stairs towards them, followed closely by Hinabi and...

 _'Neji?! You're with Hiashi?"_

"You will be helping," Gai patted her on the shoulder reassuringly, and she pulled her eyes away from Neji to look up at her teacher, "There are people here who need you."

Tsukiko wanted to ignore Hiashi and argue back but she knew her argument was already lost. She backed down and agreed to do everything she could to assist the people in the arena. Hiashi left Hinabi in the care of Tsukiko and Neji before leading Kakashi and Gai to the village wall to aid their comrades in the conflict there.

As the three disappeared over the arena walls Neji turned towards Tsukiko, his mouth opening as if you say something but he stopped short. Tsukiko suspected he wanted to ask where she had been and why she missed her match. She also wanted to question him about being with Hiashi and Hinabi, but they both knew that it wasn't the time for such discussions.

"I'll take the right side," Tsukiko announced suddenly, pointing towards the aisles sloping down in front of her, "You go from the left and we'll meet up near the exit on the other side of the arena"

Without another word Neji followed her instructions and Tsukiko, dragging Hinabi with her, also got to work helping the number of other ninja, mostly chunins, who had stayed behind to help the paralyzed audience members. After she was done they met up with Neji again, and it was only then that Tsukiko noticed that he also appeared to have sustained an injury at some point. After insuring that all remaining citizens had been evacuated the trio also left the arena for the safe zone. Outside the arena the sound of the ongoing battle at the village wall could be heard clearly and Tsukiko could see that the giant snakes had already been defeated.

Although Tsukiko had been told not to go after Sasuke and the other genin, now that she had done as she was ordered and helped the people at the arena her mind turned back to him and the sand siblings. She wanted to go after them. She felt that she needed to go after them. It was the last lead she had to finding the answers she desired, and they were getting away. Turning around, Tsukiko stopped walking and glared in the direction Kakashi said they had gone, she had no idea where or how far they could have gone but she knew her foxes would be able to track them by sensing their chakra.

However, the longer she hesitated the colder that trail would get.

"Tsuki?" Hinabi questioned, having turned back after realising her sister was no longer walking beside her, "What is it?"

"Sorry, Hinabi," Tsukiko muttered, more to herself than to her sister. Extending a bone from the tip of her finger she scratched the palm of her hand to draw blood before slamming it down on the ground to summon Yuki and Yuri to her. She heard Hinabi audibly gasp and Neji doubled back, rushing towards her

"Which of you has better tracking abilities?" She asked the twins in the place of a greeting, the plume of summoning smoke still dissipating around them.

"Oh! I do!" Yuri, the orange fox answered excitedly leaping over his sister, "I'm _definitely_ the better tracker!"

"That's _definitely_ not true," Yuki scoffed, swishing her long, silver tail around her as she held her head up proudly, "I am!"

"Never mind," Tsukiko snapped, she didn't have time to listen to them argue and the two foxes appeared to understand her urgency, "Yuri, go with Neji and make sure Hanabi makes it to the safe zone behind Hokage rock. Yuki, you are coming with me."

"Will do, my lady!" Yuri sung, encircling Hinabi protectively, "I'll tell Yuki when we're done, so you don't have to worry about us."

Tsukiko didn't reply as she already began moving towards the tree line with Yuki following closely behind. Neji yelled after her, but Tsukiko simply increased her speed, suspecting he wouldn't follow her and leave Hinabi by herself. She felt a little guilty about disobeying orders to go to the safe zone, and for leaving Neji behind, but getting answers about Kimimaro and the curse mark on her arm were more important to her.

 _'I'm already in trouble and I've been under a curfew for this long, what's a little more I guess?'_

"Yuki, what chakra can you sense up ahead?" Tsukiko asked continuing to press forward without knowing the correct direction to head in,

"There are ten people just west of us, one of them has a very weak chakra presence," Yuki informed her, "But further ahead of them there are two massive chakras. One of them is definitely bigger than the other and it feels... unstable."

'Unstable' didn't sound very good, and Tsukiko wondered if it was Sasuke's chakra from the curse mark or Gaara's strange chakra she had felt during his fight against Lee. Although she was in a hurry to find out which, the ten ninja ahead of them were the immediate concern.

Were they allies? Or were they the enemy? Despite her hurry to catch up to the Sunagakure team, if there were Konoha ninja who needed help she had to go to them.

Tsukiko adjusted her direction and began moving westwards in the direction Yuki told her to go. As she got closer she hid her own chakra presence and inched towards the group ahead of her.

"I can only sense nine people now" Yuki warned quietly, "I can't tell where the tenth went."

From her position high in the trees Tsukiko could see Shikamaru surrounded by eight Sound ninja whom he had immobilised with his Shadow Imitation technique. Tsukiko had seen him use it to win his match during the preliminary round of the exams but she could tell by the strain in his expression that he was the weak chakra presence Yuki had told her about . She knew he wouldn't be able to hold them for long. The fact that he had only trapped eight opponents meant there was still another one, the one who had skilfully hidden their chakra presence, who was lying in wait to ambush.

"Search the area nearby and find the last Sound-nin" Tsukiko commanded.

Without hesitation the silver vixen leapt forward onto another branch, her sleek body vaporising into a thin silver mist before eventually dissipating completely, becoming invisible. The only indication of the direction she went was the slight rustle of leaves which was created before her form disappeared completely.

That was one of the fundamental abilities possessed by the Shinoda foxes. They had the ability to partially or completely dematerialise. They could transition seamlessly between their solid, physical bodies, an intangible but visible vapor, and a completely invisible, incorporeal form. This final form was nearly impossible to detect and was, as far as Kuzunoha knew, completely impossible to touch or harm in any way.

After a little while Yuki returned to Tsukiko's side, remaining in her silvery, vaporised form.

"The last Sound ninja is in that large tree right behind the Konoha boy; three branches up from the ground and pressed against the trunk of the tree" Yuki informed her before disappearing entirely again and Tsukiko quickly, and silently, circled around to a position where she could reach him.

He was concealed well by the shadow of the foliage and if Yuki hadn't told her where to look she would have missed him entirely. Tsukiko extended out the bones from her fingertip towards the Sound-nin and slowly curled it around his neck as he peered down, readying himself to strike for Shikamaru. Before he could, Tsukiko quickly tightened the bones around his neck, silently strangling him until he passed out, his body slumping beneath the grip of her bone whip. She placed him down slowly, making sure his unconscious body was placed securely on the branch and wouldn't fall down and give her presence away.

Tsukiko then turned her attention to the eight ninja who, very shortly, were about to be freed from Shikamaru's shadows. Ideally she needed a way to incapacitate all eight at once, but she too was low on chakra and was running out of time to think. Sneaking back around behind the eight ninja, Tsukiko jumped down silently to the ground to where Shikamaru could see her but the eight ninja could not and she raised a finger to her lips and winked, tilting her head to the side a little she silently encouraged Shikamaru to do the same and, in turn, make the eight Sount-nin do so too.

Stalking up behind the first in the line of ninja, Tsukiko grew a flat, heavy bone out from her arm and held it firmly as she brought it down heavily over the ninjas exposed neck in a quick strike to his carotid artery. His body went limp, instantly falling unconscious to the ground.

"Huh?!" the Sound-nin next to him panicked, seeing his comrade fall in his peripheral vision.

Tsukiko didn't give them any more time to respond and she quickly made her way along the line of ninja, granting them all a single strike to the neck knocking them unconscious. Due to her training with, and against, Hyuga Clan techniques she had learnt a lot about pressure points in the body and that knowledge came in handy during times like this. As the last opponent fell Shikamaru's shadow retracted and he also slumped to the ground, exhausted from over using his ability.

"That was... rather inelegant," Shikamaru commented as he looked up at her from the ground, "But thanks for the help"

"Sorry, I'm almost out of chakra too," Tsukiko huffed a laugh, "Didn't want to be wasteful and I didn't know how much longer you could hold out in order to come up with a better plan,"

"I'm fine," Shikamaru assured, "But Kakashi-sensei's team have gone ahead after the Suna team, they might need your help."

"That's where I am heading next," Tsukiko agreed, she hesitated for a second before pressing on, asking "On your way here with Team Kakashi, did Sasuke seem... okay to you?"

Shikamaru frowned, "Sasuke left ahead of us," He answered slowly, "After the Sand team escaped the arena Sasuke went straight after them. He seemed adamant about finishing his fight with Gaara that was interrupted by the invasion"

Tsukiko silently considered what he said. It was starting to sound like she was wrong in suspecting the Uchiha of working with Orochimaru. During the second round of the exam he had seemed sincere when he said he didn't know who Orochimaru was, but since then Tsukiko had become increasingly more paranoid about the situation and desperate for answers.

 _'Maybe I'm jumping at shadows... But, even if Sasuke is on our side, the Sand genin are on Orochimaru's side. They might still know something!'_

"Tsuki~" Yuki rematerialized suddenly by her side causing both her and Shikamaru to jump at the unexpected appearance, "Yuri is returning now, however the human boy he was also escorting has doubled back as well"

 _'Neji... why am I not surprised. But, at least Hinabi is safe'_

"I'm going on ahead" Tsukiko told Shikamaru finally, a little reluctant to leave him exposed on his own, "A ginger fox will come soon and will stay with you until your able to make your way to the save zone behind Hokage rock"

Tsukiko didn't waste any more time and she leapt up into the trees, heading in the direction Sasuke and the others had gone in, and towards the massive chakra presences Yuki could feel.

* * *

 **NEXT TIME-**

 **Chapter 18:** _"You are always right by my side"_


End file.
